Going After Scorpius Malfoy
by Loving Your Smile
Summary: Rose hates Scorpius. Scorpius hates Rose. Then, out of the blue, Scorpius disappears, and Rose doesn't know what to do. So she does the first thing she can think of- she goes after him.
1. Missing

"Once again, I'd like to press how serious an issue this is. Being that he's turned seventeen, he's lost the trace, which means we've got an even more difficult chance of finding him. As I'm aware, he had a few enemies at this school, but in such a drastic situation, I know you'll do what's right, and support those who need it."

I could swear the headmistress is staring straight at me. As though I don't feel guilty enough already! I mean, my last words to the bloke were, "You're a waste of sperm," and a nasty scowl! I feel myself blush and I stare at my plate.

Headmistress McGonagall continues her lecture from where she's standing in front of her seat in the Great Hall. "Once again, if you've heard any information pertaining to Mr. Malfoy's disappearance, please do not refrain from telling any member of the faculty. Thank you, and enjoy dinner."

As McGonagall sits down, I can't help but nervously run my fingers through my hair. Like I'll be able to eat, after that guilt speech! However, my traitorous salivary gland ruin my dramatic fast as soon as the shepherd's pie appears. I give myself a hearty helping, only to feel the eyes of my favorite cousin on me.

"What?" I ask him wearily.

Al just shakes his head slightly, his black hair swishing around a bit as he continues to stare at me. "Rose," he says, "How can you eat?"

I play dumb to the fact that he's referring to McGonagall's speech and reply, "Like this," and then shove a good spoonful of creamy potato-y goodness into my mouth.

But an arch of his eyebrow, and I know he's not buying it. I swallow hastily, and I can feel the shepherd's pie, hot in my esophagus.

"I know, Al. I feel awful," I confess, putting down my spoon. "But I don't know what to do. I mean, I can't sleep well, and I can't eat anything not loaded with starch, and whenever I complain, I worry that Malfoy's got it ten times worse somewhere, wherever he is." My face falls into my now-sweating palms.

"Rose, it'll okay. I mean, he's a big kid; he can handle himself," Al reassures me. Doubt still nags at my conscience.

"But where do you think he is? You were sort of friends with him, right?"

"Well, if you call occasionally acknowledging each other in the common room being friends, then-"

I interrupt him, my own worries busting through. "Al, what if he ran away and was kidnapped? What if some old man has him locked in a basement? Or- or what if the old man fed him to his carnivorous pygmy puff? What if he's been poisoned? Or killed? Or what if-"

Now it's Al's turn to interrupt me. "Rose, calm down. Why do you care so much? You've always hated him." Which is a good point, really. I hadn't thought much about that. Why _do _I care so much? Malfoy's always been a total arse to me. Now he's gone- and at first I was euphoric, sure, but now, I just feel like a terrible person. I mean, my victory dance may or may not have been offensive to the prick's devoted female followers or something.

Either way, I feel like shit. "I don't know, Al. It's just... I..." I pause for a moment, thinking. "I wouldn't wish any of those things on anyone, even my worst enemy."

Al rolls his eyes at me. "Why are you in Gryffindor when you're such an obvious Hufflepuff?"

"Why are you in Slytherin when you should be punched in the face?" I reply in half joking, half serious voice. Al just does that stupid smirk that Slytherins do sometimes (you know, that annoying one that really makes your ambition to punch them that much stronger?). It reminds me of Malfoy, which sobers me up right away.

"Oh, forget it, Al. I'm trying to be serious," I huff. "Really."

"I told you this before, Rose. He's probably just having a rich boy tantrum, and ran off to some fancy hotel somewhere. He'll be back within the week, I'm sure."

I don't tell Al this, but that doesn't really sound like what Scorpius would do. He'd be too proud to have a tantrum, in my opinion. In fact, if he ran off, it was probably to protect his pride or something equally stupid. But I don't say this to Al. How weird would it be if I knew more about my enemy/his housemate than he did?

"I guess so." And then I switch topics, because I don't want to think about it anymore, and I eat more guilty bites of shepherd's pie and crispy asparagus and a nice slice of ham. Finally, once I'm full and the conversation's dwindled, I say my goodnights to Al and leave the hall. And though I've suppressed it and distracted it all night long, the feeling of guilt is back, rising up from somewhere in my gut and into my throat.

Because, despite how ridiculous this sounds, I think I actually _miss _the guy.

Which is weird, because the last time we talked to each other, you wouldn't have guessed it.

_I'm walking down the hall, minding my own business, when Malfoy, out of nowhere, announces, "Watch out, ladies and gentlemen. The Weasley she-devil's gotten loose."_

_Hilarious. Really. If only we weren't the only two people in the hallway to hear his witty remark._

_I glower at him. "Honestly, Malfoy, don't you have anything better to do with your time?" I turn around and see him smirking at me._

_"So you admit it, you're not worth my time?" He's standing right in front of me, and I notice I have to look up to meet his eye, he's so tall._

_I cross my arms. "The other way around, actuallly," I reply, and begin walking away. But before I can leave, he catches my arm. His fingers feel like they're burning my skin. _

_"Not so fast, Weasley. Has anyone ever told you you're an incredibly impatient shrew?" And now the urge to hex him is so strong, I point my wand at him menacingly._

_"How many times do I have to tell you to _shove off_?" I reply icily. His smirk grows a little._

_"Wow, Weasley. You really _are _impatient."_

_Now my temper's really rising. Not only am I standing here being insulted, but he still won't let my arm go. For a moment, words explode in my head, until some manage to burst out. "And you're a waste of sperm!" I put on my signature scowl and jerk his arm away and storm out, leaving him standing there in the corridor._

I rub my temples. It's hard to think about without wanting to hit my head on the nearest desk. Why did I have to be such a bitch? Now he's gone and I feel like I've made some huge mistake or something. I mean, he's still my enemy, all the way, but I wish I knew where he was.

Maybe this is weird, but I almost feel like I'm missing, well, a part of me. That part your enemy is, you know. Nothing weird or sentimental, not at all... well, sort of. But it's been over a day since he's called me names or since I've hexed him or since he's tried to sabotage anything related to my grades. Which sounds like it'd be a wonderful time and all, but... it's odd. I can't shake the feeling that things aren't right.

But what can I do? I have no idea why he disappeared. Was he kidnapped? Did he run away? Who knows?

I pace the common room for a while, wondering about what I could do. I've still got nothing. Did he have any friends who might know where he is? Did he keep a journal? Write a letter to his dorm mates about how long he'd be gone?

I tell myself I'll try to find out tomorrow, and as I yawn, I decide it's time for bed.

But even as I brush my teeth, or slip under the covers of my bed, my mind won't stop thinking and thinking. Because, what if _I'm _to blame for his disappearance? What then? Maybe if he dies, I'll get expelled or something. That would be awful. Well, okay, mostly the dying thing, but still! Nobody will hire a girl who was expelled from Hogwarts! I don't want to get in trouble, and I really do want him to be okay, I admit. Because what am I without an enemy? I'm like half of a circle. Incomplete.

I fall asleep a couple hours later, the last thought in my head about his hand on my arm, and I wake up early, after a restless sleep. I check my clock; 4:42.

I try for another hour or so to fall back asleep, but it's no use.

Even in a steaming shower, my thoughts drift back to the night Malfoy disappeared. And even at breakfast. I'm thankful it's Saturday, because I know that if I had classes, I wouldn't be able to focus at all. The thoughts don't leave me in the library; at lunch; at Quidditch practice. Flying may be the worst of all. It's about the only thing I can think of while I'm sitting on my broom, chasing after the quaffle.

Our captain, Elle Finnegan, is shouting commands and plays and so on. She yells something to me, but I can't quite understand, and then I see something out of the corner of my eye, and suddenly something hits me in the head.

"Oh, bludger," I mutter, before everything goes black.

I wake up however later in the Hospital Wing with an epiphany.

How stupid am I? I wonder about this as my eyes open. How could I not have thought of it before?

"Rose! Rose, you're awake!" says Hugo.

I stand up, ignoring the ringing in my ears and the throbbing in my head. It's not as bad as some of my worst hangovers, really. "'Scuse me, Hugo. I've got to go pack." I start walking out.

Hugo stares at me, wide eyed. "Oh no! She's delusional! Somebody get Madame Richards!" he calls to no one in particular.

"Hugo, what time is it?" I ask, wobbling a little on my feet from the lightheadedness.

He looks at his watch. "Eleven sixteen. Why do you want to know? You really shouldn't be in a rush to be anywhere."

I give him a look. "And yet, I am. Bye, Hugo." And I surprise him with a hug, because I don't know when I'm going to see him again. Who knows how long my plan is gonna take?

Because I'm going to find Malfoy, if it's the last thing I do.

And I sure hope it's not.

**A/N So... what do you think? Once we kick start Rose's little idea, this'll be full of her zany adventures, out in the world! I don't know. The idea just came to me the other day, along with some other angsty ideas, so I decided to write this one. Because it's more fun, see?**

**So be nice and review! (The review doesn't have to be nice. Just reviewing is enough for me!)**

**xx**

**Ali**


	2. Scheming

**A/N So, this is "Scheming". Thanks for the story alerts, favorites, and occasional reviews! Please repeat the process vigorously!**

The first step of my plan: Research.

This is because, my mother being who she is, I've decided to take a logical approach. So I'm going to investigate around the Slytherin dorms, maybe even talk to a few kids there (let's hope it doesn't come to that) and then see if I've got any good information on Malfoy's whereabouts.

Albus tells me how to get inside the dungeon, though he doesn't bother asking me why I want to know, and then by the time I reluctantly whisper, "Purity," to the stone wall, I'm already regretting this step of my plan.

Stupid Gryffindors. Why do we have to be so compulsory?

But it's too late now, for I'm already inside. Looking around, there's a few dark green and black sofas. The room has a pretty low ceiling compared to the rest of the castle, though there's still about half a meter above my head. The place is ridiculously dark, and it being a dungeon, there's no windows. I look around at the few dim lamps. _If I were in Slytherin, I'd be pretty pissy all the time, too,_ I think, looking around at the skull handles on the dark wood cabinets. Having to stifle a laugh, I walk away, looking for someone who can tell me which dorm is the seventh year boys'.

I see a guy who's in my Transfiguration class, Collin Flint. He's reading the Daily Prophet on one of the green sofas. I sit down next to him and greet him with a cheery, "Hey, there!"

He raises a skeptical eyebrow at me. I guess Slytherins aren't quite as friendly as us Gryffindors. Maybe smiles are a foreign concept to them or something.

"What do you want, Weasley?" he asks rather menacingly, putting down his Prophet. I roll my eyes at him like he's just made a joke and give him a grin.

"Why do you assume I want something? Maybe I just came here to hang with my Slytherin pals!" I joke, though he doesn't smile. My smile wavering, I decide to get to the point. "Well, okay. I do want something. Could you tell me which door leads to your dorm?"

His eyes narrow. I worry he thinks I'm some sort of spy for McGonagall or something. I bite my lip nervously.

"Why do you want to go in there?"

"To... uh... get the book I lent Albus," I invent on the spot. "You see, he's been a bit weary about, uh, his, um, hair line receding! So it was a book about, um, hair... charms." I feel like slapping myself in the face. Why must I be so terrible at making things up?

"Whatever. It's the farthest door to the left." He hides his face behind his newspaper once more, and I take that as my cue to leave. I walk over to the door, and open it to see a couple of his dorm mates who are sleeping in. One is snoring, and the other, I notice, isn't wearing a shirt. This should be interesting...

"Morning, mates!" I salute loudly, hoping I'm loud enough to wake them.

"Whaaaa?" the snoring one groans, and groggily sits up. The shirtless one, who I now recognize as Peter Blishwick, is rubbing his eyes. Peter's always been Scorpius' closest friend, from what I've gathered. He's often laughing while Scorpius and I go at it. Arguing, that is.

"What the fuck?" Peter mumbles as he opens his eyes. "Weasley, what are you doing in here?"

Which, really, is a very decent question. What am I supposed to say? "I'm investigating your friend's disappearance!" sounds weird and bad and lame. So what do I say?

"Hey, uh, Peter, can I talk to you for a second?" I ask him, and he gives me a shrug and a look that clearly says, "If you must." He gets out of bed, and I notice that not only is he not wearing a shirt, but he's also not wearing pants- which means the only thing between him and nakedness are a pair of thin cotton boxers. Fortunately, before I can get too distracted, he pulls on some flannel pants that were lying on the floor and I lead him out of the room into the common room, where Collin has apparently left.

"So what is it, Weasley?" he asks, glancing around the common room to make sure nobody's listening in on our conversation.

"I was just wondering... well, do you have any idea where Malfoy might be?"

He sighs in what I guess to be exasperation. "Really, Weasley? As though every authority on this campus, not to mention a zillion girls, hasn't already asked me."

Okay, maybe I should have guessed that, too. But whatever! A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do! So I ask, "Well, what did you tell them all, then?"

He rolls his eyes at me. "That Scorp decided to take a nice stay in the Hog's Head, of course. What do you think I told them, Weasley?"

Though he's looking at me like it should be obvious, I haven't got a clue. "What?"

He blinks at me. "That I have no idea where he is. And even if I did, I wouldn't go around telling everyone."

Oh. Well, that makes sense as well... but still, there's got to be something that can get me on his trail.

"Okay then. Did Malfoy keep a journal or anything?"

Blishwick snorts at me. "Come on, Weasley. You can't be serious."

I ignore the blush rising in my cheeks.

"Anyways, why do you want to know so bad?" he asks almost teasingly, an eyebrow raised.

"Because," I say defiantly, "I'm going to find him."

I can see it takes all of Blishwick's self restraint not to laugh out loud. "Sure you are, Weasley. Good luck with that. I'm going back to bed."

"Wait!" I call as he turns his back. "Don't tell anyone where I'm going, okay?"

"Whatever, Weasley." I take that as a yes.

Now I just need to find Jenna, a seventh year Slytherin girl and Malfoy's latest girlfriend. It's not hard to find her- she's gone where all the heartbroken girls go to cry and look "beautifully disturbed" while looking out on a landscape; the stone bridge. She's there by herself, and as I've guessed, she's got tear tracks down her cheeks, tinted with mascara.

"Hi, Jenna," I greet quietly. The stone bridge really isn't a place you can just go about shouting, in my opinion. Though that doesn't stop drunken fifth years from doing that all the time in the middle of the bloody night. Just saying.

"Hi, Rose," she replies, her voice watery. "What are you doing up here?"

Why do people have to ask so many bloody questions? "Um, I wanted to make sure you were alright."

She gives me a slightly confused look, and rightfully too, because Jenna and I have barely exchanged words throughout our six previous years of school. "Well, that was nice of you, I guess," she says quietly, which is nice of her. If I was her, and she was me, I know this would be a lot more awkward.

"So, you really miss him, don't you?" I try, and I hope she gets what she means. She gives me a weary looking thin-lipped smile.

"I guess so. Only, he broke up with me earlier yesterday- you know, before he went missing." She sighs. "I feel like a complete idiot."

That's pretty open of her. I thought Slytherins weren't really the type to open up about feelings, but maybe that was just prejudice?

"So tell me, Rosie, why are you _really_ here?"

Maybe not.

"I told you. I wanted to make sure you were okay," I fib, and very unconvincingly too, by the look on Jenna's face.

"Don't lie to me. We've barely said three words to each other for seven years," she presses, turning to face me.

Um.

"Um."

And Mum was so surprised I wasn't in Ravenclaw.

"That's what I thought," Jenna berates me. She wipes her eyes before she continues. "So tell me the truth, Ginger, before I do something drastic."

Wait. Did she just call me Ginger? I knew I never like Slytherins... What Malfoy ever saw in her is beyond me. You know, despite the perfect figure, the perfect blond hair, the perfect teeth; the list goes on.

"Okay, okay!" I oblige. "I want to know about Malfoy. Tell me about him- did he have any habits? Any places he might have gone? Any secrets he maybe told you about his plan to run away or anything?"

If she didn't look as though she's about to hex me, I would say she's blushing.

"Well, Rose. I don't know what you've heard, but what Scorpius and I did for the most part was more... _physical_ than emotional. At least, on his part anyway," she says quietly. I'm pretty sure I hear her mutter, "The bastard," under her breath, but maybe I just imagined it.

"So, um, I guess that's a no?"

"From this conversation, I wouldn't have guessed you're one of the smartest kids in our year."

Ouch, I think?

"And why do you wanna know so bad anyways, Rose?" she asks again.

I sigh. "Well, Jenna, that's because I'm... going to find him."

She looks at me like I just told her I love eating flobberworms while listening to Celestina Warbeck.

"Whoever said you were the brightest kid in our year was delusional," she quips with a shake of her head. "But, if I were you, Rose, I'd start in Hogsmeade. There's no way he went anywhere without stopping there first."

"Why's that?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"Because he never goes on a trip without getting his hair cut first," she replies. At first I can't tell if she's serious or not, but by the stony look on her face, I'm pretty sure she is.

I extend my hand for a shake, but she just stares at it, so I put my hand back down.

"Er, well, thank you Jenna. It was nice talking with you."

"Whatever you say, Ginger."

I ignore the slight. "And please don't tell anyone, Jenna. I hope I can trust you."

She gives me a noncommittal shrug, and I can only hope she keeps her word- well, at least keeps her shrug, then.

Which brings me to phase two of the plan: packing.

Back in my dorm, I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to pack. Clothing, sure, but what kind? It's January here, so it's pretty cold, but who knows where Malfoy is? He could have gone anywhere, now that he's old enough to Apparate.

I flop onto my bed. This is crazy. I'm never going to be able to find him.

And Jenna's right. Why _do _I want to find him so bad?

No, I don't, I reassure myself. I just know that no one else is going to. It's got to be me.

Right?

Sighing, I throw some clothes, my hairbrush, and my toothbrush into my old rucksack. What else do I need?

I mean, really. How does one go about packing for a rescue mission? I don't even know how long I'll be gone! And who knows where I'll be going! It's not like Scorpius is just going to be hiding somewhere in Hogsmeade, is it? Is it?

I throw a couple extra pairs of panties in my bag, just to be safe.

I mean, you've got to have good hygiene when you don't know where you're going. You never know where you're going to end up.

**A/N**

**NEXT TIME ON GASM*:**

**Rose visits the hair cuttery- but can she get out before a slightly deranged hairdresser cuts off her auburn locks? Will her treasure hunt come to end? And just where the heck _is _Malfoy anyways?**

***Going After Scorpius Malfoy. Sounds dirtier, no?**

**So please, please, pleeeeeease review! Just a word, that's all I ask! A single word! I mean, several words would be ideal, but I'll take what I get!**

**xx**

**Ali**


	3. Cutting

Hogsmeade is a lot duller when there's nobody there to screw around with. I mean, even Al is fun to hang around with when he's in the mood for some, er, hijinks. Hogsmeade's even more fun when you sneak out with some fit Hufflepuff bloke and snog him at the back of the Three Broomsticks.

However, it's not quite so fun when you're going to Split Ends, the almost-trendy-but-not-quite hair salon across from Honeydukes. It just doesn't seem like a very exciting place to start my, well, I don't know what to call it... adventure? Rescue mission? Either way, it's my only lead so far.

I wonder if Al's found my note yet. It said something along the lines of, "Hey Al, I'm going to find Malfoy. Owl you when I can. See you whenever." I left it on his pillow so he wouldn't miss it unless he was being an idiot. Which, of course, has been known to happen, but he'll find it eventually. And Peter Blishwick will probably tell him anyways- they do share a dorm, after all.

Anyways, if he _has _found it, I wonder what he's thinking. Probably something like, "Wow, Rose is an idiot." Which would be weird, because I was just thinking the same thing about him... But anyways. He's probably wondering why I'm looking for Malfoy. Which still is kind of an unanswered question even to me. I can't help but remember the one time Malfoy wasn't actually a prick to me. Not that I enjoy replaying the memory in my head or anything. It's, well, I don't know. It was the first memory I thought of when I heard he was missing.

_It's Valentine's Day of sixth year, and I'm sitting alone at a confetti-sprinkled table in Madame Puddifoot's where I've just had my heart broken in front of all of the happy couples in the stupid place. Elliot Henry, my now-ex boyfriend has already left after telling me he was leaving me for some Ravenclaw floozy whom he'd been snogging for the past three months all those times he said he needed a "study break". There was a lot of yelling and he had to pay for the teacup I threw at him (which missed, by the way, and smashed to bits on the hardwood floor). But now he's gone, and I'm left at the table, trying not to cry. _

_Elliot Henry was my first serious boyfriend. He was the first guy I cut class for (only once, and it was only History of Magic) and we used to hang out most of the time and he was the perfect boyfriend. He was also my first, because I thought he felt the same way about me as I did about him. And now, while I sit here, pieces of shiny confetti sticking to my forearms, I try hard not to cry, though I can tell my attempt is in vain as my bottom lip trembles horribly. I still feel a couple pairs of eyes watching me and the volume of whispering has yet to go down..._

_And then, because I've got the worst luck, I see none other than Scorpius Malfoy, walking over from the mushy card-selling section of the little cafe. As though this day can't get any worse! My stomach drops and I don't really know why, only that only bad things will come from him being here, especially if he talks to me, which it totally looks like he's going to do. _

_But then he surprises me. He just walks up to the table I'm at, sighs, and drops a couple coins on the table, despite the fact the only thing I've ordered is water. Then he gestures towards the door and because I'm so confused and hormonal and emotional and all, I follow him out and after the pink door's shut, I stare at him, confused._

_"Why weren't you being a complete prick?" I ask, my voice wavering at first, but gaining more stability._

_He rolls his eyes. "Because you weren't being a total harpy like you usually are."_

_I snort. "Really? I'd call throwing a teacup harpy behavior, if you ask me." _

_"Well I didn't," he replies, looking everywhere but at me, as if he's got something better to do. Which he probably has, considering it's Valentine's Day and he's always got a girl by his side. _

_"Well, thanks, I guess," I say curtly, trying to make this less awkward and failing. "So who's the card for?" I ask, noticing the glossy paper in his hand._

_He stares at it a moment. "Carly Montgomery." Her name sounds like how you might say "Sunny," when someone asks you what the weather's like; factual and emotionless. I take the card from his hand. The cover's got a picture of a strawberry dipped in chocolate and I nearly gag as I read the printed message on the inside- "You're sweet to the taste, and leave me begging for more." Instead, I just shake my head and laugh as I hand the card back to him. _

_"She's certainly a lucky girl," I remark sarcastically. _

_For a moment, he looks as though he's going to laugh with me, but then the small smile on his face disappears and he replies, "Obviously luckier than you'll every be." And then he walks away, and I don't know whether to be offended or burst out laughing._

The bells on the glass door of Split Ends jingle as I close the door. A woman sitting at the front desk pops her bubblegum and looks up from her WitchWeekly. She gives me the once-over, her eyes lingering on my black combat boots.

"Uh... hi," I greet her eloquently with my amazing ability to use words.

"Oh dear, you're going to take some work," she quips before blowing a bubble and popping it loudly.

"Er, actually, I was just in here to-"

But before I can tell her why I'm here, she's already up and touching my hair, examining it from all sides.

"I know why you're hair. You desperately need a haircut, that's why," she supplies for me. Her name tag says Angela, and her fingers are long and thing and manicured.

"Well, no, actually. I was here to-"

"Don't tell me you're here to dye your hair. It's got such a lovely color, Miss... what's your name exactly?"

I can't tell her my real name. What if McGonagall sends someone looking for me in Hogsmeade and they ask her if someone by the name of Rose had stopped by for a haircut?

I blurt out, "Carly," the memory of Valentine's Day apparently still subconsciously on my mind.

She smiles at me. "Well, Carls, how about you have a seat right here and I'll fix up your hair." She gestures at the black leather chair in front of a big mirror.

"Well, actually, Angela, I don't think I-"

"Don't argue. Just sit!" And she shoves me in the chair and I figure, "Why not?" I could go for a haircut anyways, I guess.

"So, Carls, it doesn't seem like it's a Hogsmeade weekend. And from the looks of it, you're definitely a Hogwarts student."

I guess most girls don't wear knee length pleated skirts everywhere, now that you mention it.

"Well... I really needed to come here," I reply, about to ask her about Malfoy. But the woman loves to talk.

"I can tell, love. You've got more split ends than a dog at a kennel," she comments lightly.

Um, thanks?

"But really, when was the last time you got a haircut? I'm willing to guess it's been a bloody long time! But I think your hair could be nice, love. I really do." Her wand is already out, slicing off my hair left and right.

"So, um, how's business been?" I ask, trying to sound casual. Maybe I can just bring up Malfoy in hairdresser conversation. Angela clearly won't let it happen any other way.

"Well, you know, we're still a bit new here, but it's been good enough. We get by, anyways." She trims my bangs and I blow a few small pieces of hair out of my face.

"We? Who else works here?"

"Well, my husband works at the owl office but he helps out here sometimes, you know how that is. By the way, what happened back here?" she asks, trying to tug a comb throw a knot at the back of my head.

But even after another twenty minutes of cutting and clipping and chitchat, I still can't manage to bring up Malfoy and we just seem to get more and more off topic until we're discussing what kind of fruits make the best smoothies.

As she clips off one last piece of hair, she tells me my haircut's finally done, and she beams as we look into the mirror at my hair. I have to admit, it does look pretty good.

"Oh, but Angela, I've been meaning to tell you- I didn't come here to get a haircut!" I exclaim.

Angela just shrugs. "Ah well, s'long as you pay for it." She wipes of her comb with a cloth. "But why'd you come here, Miss Carly?"

"To ask you if Scorpius Malfoy came here for a trim the other day!"

"Scorpius Malfoy... is he that handsome blond fellow?" She wiggles her eyebrows at me. I look at her, a little grossed out.

"I don't know about handsome, but he _is _blond. He didn't happen to mention where he's going, did he?"

She purses her lips and looks at the ceiling. "Hmm... I can't remember exactly... the boy had such nice hair... though he _did _mention something about the Leaky Cauldron, now that you mention it, dear."

My eyes light up. I've got another lead! He could be staying at the Leaky Cauldron right now! I stand up, about to Apparate, when Angela politely taps my shoulder.

"Listen, Carly, I know you didn't come here for a trim, but do you think you could cough up at least a galleon or something? I'm trying to make a decent living."

I blush in embarrassment. "Oh... uh... right!" I take a galleon out of my rucksack and hand it to her.

"You know, seems to me like you really care about this Scorpius fellow, seein' as you're so eager to go find him," Angela says, placing the galleon in her cash register at the front desk. She winks at me.

I shudder in disgust. "Merlin, no," I tell her. "I've just got to find him before he goes and gets himself Avada'd."

"Whatever you say, Carly. Have a nice day with Mr. Malfoy!" she teases, grinning. "Come back soon!"

"Yeah, I will, don't worry," I say, smiling. Do I mean it? Maybe not. Though she _is _very nice, even if she thinks Malfoy is handsome despite his arrogance and general being-a-prick-ness.

But now... I've got to go to the Leaky Cauldron. Forget about how great stupid Malfoy's hair is.

I mean, um, not that I think it's great or anything.

**A/N Ughh I don't really like this chapter. Well, the flashback turned out alright, but the hairdresser part turned out pretty bad. I didn't really edit much, so sorry for any SPaG things! But I decided to upload it anyways because I haven't updated in a little while and I wanted to get it out there! So trust me, the next chapter should be better. **

**Thanks so much to those of you who reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story. And thanks to you guys who just read it! I love you guys! You're amazing!**

**...And keep up the good work!**

**I struggled a lot with this chapter, and I kept losing track of what I was saying and all. It took up my whole evening! But I did it! I finished! I'm off to celebrate with a bag of Cheetos.**

**Peace, suckaaas!**

**xx**

**Ali**


	4. Leaking

**A/N Sorry for the delay, and happy Easter! ;)**

I try to slink in to the Leaky Cauldron without having Mrs. Longbottom see me.

"Rose, dear! What are you doing here?"

Damn.

"Oh, I was just, uh, um, stopping by to say hi!" I invent. God, why do I have to be such an idiot sometimes?

But Hannah Longbottom looks as confused as me. "Um, well, that's nice of you, dear. But shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?"

My eyes go wide. But wait... "It's Saturday!" I tell her. "And... I got permission to come and see you!"

She still looks a bit confused, but she just hands me a butterbeer over the bar. "That was really sweet of you, Rosie. But why did you want to come say 'hi' to me today? You know, I already told your brother Hugo I wasn't going to supply him with firewhiskey for some party the other day," she tells me with a hint of a smile. She's always been fond of Hugo, ever since he first threw up crayons in her purse when he was a toddler.

"Oh, Mrs. Longbottom, I was just- well, I-" But I'm at a loss, and for once, I can't come up with a good lie.

She raises her eyebrow at me. "Rosie, be honest with me. Why are you here?"

I blink at her a few times.

"Uh."

"Rosie, you and I both know you're a bright girl. And we both know you're not going to lie to me, right?" she asks, trapping me.

"Er, well, I was actually just checking to see if this... person I know has been here recently," I tell her, being vague but honest nonetheless.

"And why do you want to know that?"

Bloody questions.

"Well, see, the thing is. Well. There's this boy from my school- oh, I'm sure you've heard about it- and he's gone missing and nobody's gone to look for him yet, so I thought that, well, _I _should because someone had to." The words stream out, and as soon as I say it out loud, I realize how stupid it all sounds.

"Oh, well then, dear, have a look in the guest registry. No need to be secretive about it, love, it's right over there." She motions with a flick of her wand to a thick leather book, sitting by the door to the staircase leading to the inn rooms.

I feel the sudden urge to slap my forehead. Why am I so blind sometimes? Really.

Some of the yellowed pages stick together, but I search fervently, until I start seeing more recent dates beside the inked names.

I drag my finger down the page. _Miranda Hawthorne_, _L. Jones, Jacob Williams, F. Yaxley, G. P. McGregor... _the list of names goes on.

"Hey, girlie! What are you lookin' for in there?" says a haggard looking old woman, clutching a grimy teacup. "I'se seen 'em all come an' go, girl. You can tell me."

As creepy as she seems, there's no reason to lie to her. She might even be able to help me... maybe.

"Well, I was looking for Scorpius Malfoy. Have you seen him come by here? He's tall, and-"

"Is 'e the fine lookin' bloke with the blond hair?" she interjects.

"Er, well, he's blond, but not that fine looking, really," I inform her. Why does everybody call him handsome? You'd think his giant ego would block people from seeing his attractive features. That is, if he had any... Which he totally doesn't, by the way.

"Oh, come on, love, I'se seen plen'y of blokes in my life, and 'e's cer'ainly fine, girl," she tells me, waggling her scraggly white eyebrows.

I can't help but smile. This lady seems all sorts of crazy, but still charming in her own weird way.

"So you've seen him here?" I ask eagerly. Maybe he's still here! Maybe I can find him today! Maybe-

"Yes I 'ave, girlie. He come an' gone with some Yaxley feller a day ago. That guy was a nasty, I tells ya. Draggin' the poor bloke around like 'e's some sorta puppet or somethin'. Stayed in room one hundred seventeen if I'se heard correc'ly, an' I know I has," she says before taking a long drag from her teacup. When she sets it back down on the table, there's nothing left but the forest green dregs. She examines them before muttering something that sounded like a book definition: "A cross in your cup predicts trials and suffering," before looking back up at me as though nothing had happened.

Yaxley... Yaxley... Why did that name seem so familiar? The first image in my head is of my Uncle Harry, though I have no clue why.

"So, room one seventeen?" I ask, clarifying. After her deep nod in response, I thank her and get the key to the room from Mrs. Longbottom.

The room is fairly average, though the rooms here always surprise me as to how nice they are, compared to the dingy, smoke filled pub. It's got two beds, a writing desk, a dresser, and a rubbish bin. Standard stuff. Seeing as they checked out yesterday morning, the room's neat and clean and hasn't been rented out since. But I still look in the rubbish bin since I know that Mrs. Longbottom only bothers to empty them out once a week, normally Thursdays, from the family vacations we stayed here in London.

There's a couple candy wrappers (Chocolate Cauldrons), a broken quill, and torn up pieces of parchment. I take out all of the pieces that I can, and try to fit them back together like some sort of puzzle. I get mostly broken sentences, but I still get the information I need:

_De r Fathe_

_Pl se come find me. I at the Leaky ldron, having been kidnapped by ment l Yaxley kid. He's takin e to some sort of deserted Burke Manor, wherever that is. I need help. These kids are insane, not to mention dangerous. I_

It seems to me that whoever this Yaxley guy is, he didn't like the letter Malfoy was writing home... and tore it up. I have to admit, I'm a little bit scared now. Who would kidnap Malfoy? And why? It just doesn't make sense. Unless... unless it had something to do with his father, maybe. Which kind of scares me even more.

But there are more important things at hand, such as, where the bloody hell _is _the Burke Manor? I suppose I could ask around the pub, seeing as there's such a shady mix of people, someone must have some sort of idea. And then I could ask around Diagon Alley too. Now that I mention it, Burke sounds like a kind of familiar name too... but where have I heard it before? Something related to Diagon Alley, I think...

I check my watch. It's 5:39. The shops will probably be closing soon, so I've got to go ask around now, or else I'll have to wait for tomorrow. Who knows? By then, they could have already tortured Malfoy or something. By then, he could already be dead.

It's funny, two weeks ago, I wouldn't think that I would mind.

Diagon Alley is the same as always, though I've never seen it in the evening. It's not quite dark yet, but the sun's down enough that all the shop lights and street-lamps are lit. It's actually quite pretty.

I decide to meander around, hoping by chance just to discover what I'm looking for. But almost an hour later, I give up my search in place of a nice warm meal of bread and the Leaky House Soup, back at the Leaky Cauldron. Despite the good feeling of being full, I fell hopeless. Where am I supposed to go? This was such a stupid idea. How did I think I would even be able to find him? I'm crazy. That's it, I must be insane. That's the only explanation.

And where have I heard the name Burke anyways? How do I even know it's a name. I repeat the name to myself in my head._... _Wait, Borgin? _Borgin and Burkes! _It's a store Uncle Harry accidentally landed himself in. But it's not in Diagon Alley. It's... in that dark place, what's it called?

Curse my rotten memory! Why can't I remember anything?

I take another gulp of butterbeer, thinking.

I could always ask someone. But they'll be suspicious, won't they? Why would I want to go to Borgin and Burkes? I could say I'm... going to meet a friend? No, that's sketchy too... I'm trying to find my aunt? Maybe... still shady... I-

Oh screw it. I'm just going to ask someone.

Back in Diagon Alley, I see a trendy looking girl handing out coupons for Second Time Round, a second-hand robe store. She looks a few years older than me, and gives me a toothy smile when I approach her.

"Forty percent off all dress robes, this weekend only!" she tells me, handing me a neon yellow coupon.

I smile at her. "Actually, I was just looking for a store."

"You name it, I'll tell you wear it is, love," she tells me with a wink.

"Borgin and Burkes?" I say tentatively.

Her eyes widen a bit. "Now why would a girl like you want to go to a place like Borgin and Burkes?"

"To meet a friend," I blurt. This would be another slap-my-forehead moment.

She smiles knowingly. "It's a boy, I bet. I'm just warning you, no decent blokes have girls meet them in Borgin and Burkes." She shakes her head a bit.

"Well, you know what they say, opposites attract," I say, playing along I guess, and give her a shrug.

"You just keep going until you pass Brandy's Half-price Brooms, then go left. Keep going 'til you see the tavern, then go right, and you'll see it," she tells me like a professional tour guide. I guess she's used to it, after handing out coupons on the street for however long.

"Thanks," I tell her sincerely, before taking a coupon. Hey, you never know when you're going to need dress robes, right?

**A/N So... what do you think? I actually have a plan now about what's going to happen. And I've got some inside information that Scorpius Malfoy may or may not be in the next chapter... say what? Be sure to review!**

**Also, thanks so much to those of you who have done anything related to this story (i.e. Favorited, reviewed, read, etc...)! I love you so much!**

**xx**

**Ali**


	5. Reaching

**A/N: ;)**

Let me tell you, Borgin and Burkes is not exactly a place you want to take your grandkids, if you catch my drift. The place looks like something out of some Gothic novel I read when I was thirteen. I wish someone were here to tell me not to go inside, but there's nobody here but me.

The door sticks a little as I push it open, which makes the wheezing creak sound metallic and grating. I can't help but wince a little bit. Looking around inside doesn't help much either.

There's a film of dust on everything, from the glass bottles filled with a rainbow of dark liquids, to the bizarre jewelry with odd designs, to a shelf full of books I would never touch, either because they're most likely cursed or they're full of information on the Dark Arts. Or, perhaps, both... you never know in a place like this.

I walk around and look at the weird things on the counters. There's a tarnished silver ring with a wine-colored stone set in it. By instinct, I start to slide it on to my left index finger.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," says a deep, scratchy voice. I jump a bit at the sound and here the man snicker. Turning around, I see it's young guy, maybe in his mid-twenties, with facial hair somewhere between stubble and a full on beard, and dark circles under his eyes. He looks like he's never slept a minute.

"It's cursed is why," he explains, gesturing to the ring in between my thumb and index finger. I immediately set it back on its navy velvet cushion.

"Oh," is my only awkward response.

"Yep, I just saved your nose from falling off," he says, coming out from behind the counter to lean against it nonchalantly.

"Well, thanks," I say nervously, because he keeps staring at me.

"You could say that you... owe me," he says slowly and suggestively. The way he's wiggling his eyebrows is not a good sign.

I laugh nervously, hoping to just brush it off. "Well, sorry to say this, but can I ask you for another favor?"

He gives me a little shrug. I notice his leather jacket and wonder why he tries so hard to be cool in a place like this. Then again, maybe he thinks working in a Dark Arts store _is _really cool. Personally, it just makes him seem very sketchy, to be honest.

"Well, so... are you a Burke?" I ask first, wanting to be sure.

"I'm a Borgin myself. Grandson of the man on the sign," he clarifies. "They were pretty good mates, before my granddad killed him."

I try very hard to ignore the last statement.

"So... you... well... Do you know where the Burke Manor is?" I say finally.

He snorts. "'Course I do. Granddaddy liked to show me exactly where Mr. Burke took his last breath, now didn't he?"

Once again, I choose to ignore his comment. Only it's really hard to ignore, because it's so awful and disgusting. I take a second to center myself.

"Okay then. So, do you think you could tell me where it is?" I ask tentatively, knowing that even if I do get there, things are not going to go well. I imagine nothing could in that house.

"Sure, but first you gotta tell me why you're so eager to go there. Last time I heard, it was being inhabited by a bunch of Greater Good kids," he tells me as he fiddles with a stack of papers on the front counter.

"Wait, Greater Good kids? They were those guys who killed that Muggle lady back in October, right?" Oh my God. This is a lot worse than I anticipated.

"Yep, just a bunch of Death Eater wannabes. So now, tell me, why'd you wanna go there? Don't say... are you a Greater Good girl?" He looks me up and down suspiciously.

My eyes go wide. "What? Of course not! But... Well, I think they've taken this boy I know."

He smiles slyly. "Ah, a good mate of yours, I s'pose then?"

What a creeper.

"Can you just tell me where this place is?"

"Fine, killjoy."

By the time he tells me, the sun is setting and by the time I actually Apparate to the location, the sun's completely lost from the sky. The moon gives the Burke Manor a leering silhouette. Even from my wandlight I can tell the place is rundown. There's light coming out from the windows behind the tattered lace curtains.

And there's laughter, too. Loud and harsh and from many sources.

Oh shit.

How many people are in there? I crouch down and shuffle in the tall brown grass until I'm under the window. I start standing up slowly so I can take a peak in the window, but I hit my head on a ledge of the house and let out a shriek of pain and surprise.

Oh double shit.

I hear their footsteps as they rush to the window, and I know they've seen me as I start running away, around the other side of the house. They're shouting something to somebody- "She's on the left! On the left!"

I take this as my cue to get to the right, but as I'm running around the back of this giant manor, I see a small horizontal basement window. The orange glow of light invites me in like a hearth. I quickly Vanish the glass and shimmy through the opening before replacing the window again. I duck as I hear their footsteps outside, worried they might see the top of my head.

There's a weird sound from the room, something muffled. I turn around and notice the single light bulb that dangles from the ceiling. The room smells like mildew, and there's a puddle in the corner on the cement floor. And, of course, the boy tied to a chair with a tie wrapped around his mouth like a gag.

"Scorpius Malfoy!" I say excitedly.

His eyes are wide and his hair is slightly disheveled, which is weird for him. He shakes his head a little but I don't understand why.

"Huh?"

He rolls his eyes at me. The prat! I came all the way here to save his sorry ass and he's rolling his eyes at me! "What's you're problem?" I ask him, disgruntled.

He raises one eyebrow as though the answer should be obvious... which, of course, it is, I realize.

I quickly fumble with the knot on the tie (which of course is and manage to loosen it enough to slip it over his head.

"Weasley, why the bloody hell are you here?" he demands when I come back to look him in the face. His voice is hoarse.

I cross my arms. "To rescue you, obviously."

He shakes his head at me again. "You're bloody mental, you know that?"

I laugh at this. "Don't act like you're not grateful, Malfoy. Who knows what they might have done with you here?"

His face looks solemn now. "Actually, I do. Now keep your voice down. Rowle over there's a deep sleeper, but if he wakes up, it'll be nothing but the Cruciatus for us both." He motions to a heavyset bloke sleeping on the bottom step of the wooden staircase.

"Honestly, Malfoy. Aren't you supposed to be one of the brightest wizards in our year?" I turn and Stupefy Rowle.

"Can you just get me out of here, Weasley?"

I huff, slightly indignant, and start to hack away with my wand at the rope binding his torso to the chair. I do admit, though, it's such a relief to see him alive, even if he _is _sort of being a prick. Which I guess is understandable, seeing as he's probably had Unforgivables done to him since the moment he got to this hellhole.

Wow. I almost feel... _bad _for the guy.

Weird.

It's silent as I slowly break through the bonds. I can feel him watching me, and it's kind of unsettling. I look up and our eyes meet and I can feel my heart beating faster in my chest.

I drag my eyes back down to the rope, but stop at his neck. There's something on it... Wait.

"Is that a hickey?" I say, disgusted. The red mark is prominent on his white skin.

"Even Greater Good girls can't keep there hands off me," he says, the faintest hint of his usual smirk on his lips. "And it was Margaret Rosier's turn to keep guard last night."

"You're disgusting."

"I can't help it. I'm just magnetic when it comes to girls... well, you know, attractive girls, anyways." He looks me up and down like I'm definitely not one of them.

"Prat. I just came and saved your arse and here you are, already tormenting me!" I gripe, sawing away at the ropes. I manage to make my way through the first layer.

"Sorry, Weasley, but you just make it so easy," he says, a full on smirk on his stupid face now.

I saw furiously through the ropes in response.

"So how'd you even get here anyways?" I say after a couple more minutes of silence.

"I went for a hair cut and was kidnapped when I was walking down Hogsmeade. They Stunned me and blindfolded me and the next thing I know, I'm in here, and they're asking me to join them, that they'd give me power or something. So I told them they were being moronic and then Rowle over there gave me a taste of his Cruciatus Curse." He winces at the memory.

"Oh my God, Malfoy. That's awful!"

Malfoy sighs wearily. "They're planning something, Weasley. Something bad. I don't know when or where yet, but they're going to try to blow up some public Muggle area."

This whole thing just keeps getting crazier and crazier. "Well, we've got to stop them, Malfoy! I mean, do you have any idea how big this would be if it happened?"

"Listen, Weasley," he says, trying to interrupt me, but I'm too lost in thought.

"Well, first thing we've got to do is get out of here, and then get you a wand... but where are we going to get you one? Unless I can manage to get yours... but then we'll risk getting caught all over again... but what if-"

"Weasley."

"But no... that couldn't work because-"

"Weasley!" he says loudly, and I stop pacing and turn and stare at him.

"What?"

"They've got Albus."

**A/N YES! I FINALLY FINISHED THIS CHAPTER!**

**Sorry for the late-ish update. I don't know... I feel like it's been awhile since I last updated. But yayyy! Scorpius is here now! He'll make things more interesting, won't he?**

**So, I wanna clarify a little. I know this story is called "Going After Scorpius Malfoy", and I originally planned to have Rose find Scorpius at the very end, but how could they have a relationship and all if she doesn't see him until the last moments? So here we are. I have come to a solution! Hopefully I haven't given too much away... ;)**

**Also, THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU for all your support in the form of reviews, favorites, etc. Seriously! As of right now, May 8th, 2011, 6:56 pm, this story has 41 reviews! That's over 10 per chapter! And 34 of you wonderful, wonderful people have subscribed to this story! You can't imagine how much that means to me!**

**Sorry this was such a long Author's Note. Please review! I love you!**

**xx**

**Ali**


	6. Apparating

**A/N I know, I know, I suck for taking so long to update! But here we go!**

"Wha- B- But- What do you _mean_, 'They've got Albus'?" I sputter, turning to stare at the blond-haired captive.

"I don't know how, but they've been drinking to his capture all night," he says apologetically. "Now, do you think you can finish getting me out this chair? My foot's been asleep for hours."

"Al has gone missing and all you can think about is your bloody foot!" I shriek. "Goodness gracious, Malfoy! What are we going to do?"

He sighs, probably at the fact he's not going to leave his chair any time soon. "Well, clearly we've got to find him. And then you'll probably decide that you've just _got _to stop the Muggle attack, and will somehow find a way to force me to help you."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "It's so comforting that you know me so well," I retort, going back to cutting through his ropes.

"Ow, Weasley, the rope's rubbing against me."

"Well, do you want it off or not?"

Finally I manage to get through the last of the rope, and he bends his arms a little, feeling them out. I notice that he's actually pretty fit for a guy who claims Quidditch is a waste of time. He stands up, getting a feel for his legs again.

"Thanks, Weasley," he says. He almost sounds sarcastic but there's no reason for him to be so I take it as him showing his gratitude. Which is weird, actually. I don't think he's ever thanked me for anythings, though that may be due to the fact I've never done anything worth thanking me for. Not to him, anyways.

"Anytime," I reply, sort of as a joke, because if this had been any other situation, I probably wouldn't have even bothered with him. He'd have his usual crowd of adoring fans to come to his aid.

We stand in an awkward silence for a moment. Where do we go from here?

"So, why'd you do it?" He breaks the silence. The question hangs in the air for a moment while I think about it.

"I... I'm not really sure," I try to explain. "It just felt like the right thing to do."

Staring at each other, he smirks at me, which of course is nothing new. Prat.

"Well, I'm glad it did."

I guess this is his snarky way of thanking me. He's got an odd way of showing appreciation! Really.

I shrug at him.

"So what's the next step of the plan, Weasley?" he inquires, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, we've got to get Al!" I reply, as it should be obvious.

Scorpius sighs. "He's not here, you know, Weasley. They're keeping him at some temporary place in London."

"What? And you're only telling me this now?" I cry in exasperation. How are we ever going to find him?

But before he can reply, we hear voices at the top of the stairs.

"Hey, Rowle, it's my turn to watch over little Scorpy!" calls a shrill girl's voice. "Make way for Margaret, Scorpy!"

Malfoy winces a little at Rosier's pet name. Rowle says nothing, of course, seeing as he's still stunned. We're frozen as we hear her echoing steps as she comes down the stairs. My eyes flash at Malfoy's, but he looks just as at a loss as I feel.

Margaret Rosier is a very pretty girl, with dark long hair and a nice figure. She'd be just Malfoy's type if she wasn't so insane as to be a part of the Greater Good group. I instantly dislike her.

Her eyes go wide as she sees us, standing shellshocked. "Who are you?" she says to me in her loud voice. I can hear a few voices coming from upstairs, but I can't make out what they're saying. Before I can think, Margaret has already started calling up, "The girl's in here! She's freed Malfoy!"

And then a stampede of footsteps starts coming down the stairs, and before I can pull out my wand, I find myself dragging Malfoy out the little window with me, and once we reach the solid ground we start running towards the surrounding forests. I pray that they can't see us in the darkness as they blindly shoot curses and jinxes out of the little window, their voices a chorus of shrieks and bellows. We keep running, even when we're somewhere deep in the forest and can't hear them anymore. I realize I'm still holding Malfoy's hand as I stumble over something, only to find his hand supporting my weight.

Finally, we're too exhausted to go any further, and collapse on a soft spot of ground underneath a tree. It's pitch dark and eerily silent and still. I can hear Malfoy breathing beside me, and I feel my heart beating rapidly.

I pull out my wand, muttering a quiet, "Lumos," and I notice that Malfoy and I are both kind of scratched from running in the dark. My knee is bleeding a bit from when I fell, but it's nothing serious and I don't have the energy to heal it now.

Malfoy takes my wand suddenly.

"What are you doing?" I whisper, like it's some sort of secret.

He doesn't answer me, and I can't see his face in the dark now.

"Accio wand," he murmurs, and we wait in silence with just the light from my wandtip until we hear something rustling the trees. Finally, his wand lands in his hand and I watch as the corner of his mouth lifts up, weary but still pleased with himself.

"Nox," I mutter, and the light goes out on my wand. In a few moments in the dark, I fall asleep. Saving people's arses is tiring work.

I wake up early the next morning. In those hazy moments between sleep and consciousness, the piece of sky I can see between the tops of a couple trees is still gray, as if the sky hasn't woken up yet either. I feel something warm on my scalp, and turning my head slightly, I see that it's Scorpius Malfoy, breathing on my head. I suddenly realize I'm lying on his chest.

The night before plays in my head like a movie, as if I wasn't really a part of it, but I had watched it many times before. My limbs feel sore. I think my rucksack is still on my back, too. I hadn't even bothered to take it off.

Malfoy is still asleep, and he looks so serene I don't feel like waking him. His hair is still disheveled, but it still has that same expensive look it had before. Even after being kidnapped and Crucio'd, he still manages to look like a magazine ad. What an arse.

I sit up, thinking that if he woke up and found me on his chest, he probably would be weirded out. But as I move my head away, his eyebrows furrow and he shifts a little uncomfortably before slowly opening his eyes.

"Morning, Malfoy," I greet him in a whisper, as he looks sleepily at me, a faint smile on his lips.

"Scorpius," he replies quietly.

I look confused.

"That's my name. You can call me that," he tells me, as he yawns and stretches out his arms.

I'm really confused by this. What does he mean, waking up to tell me his name?

"Well then, call me Rose," I inform him. "Since that's mine."

He nods a little, rubbing his eye. "Good then."

"So what do we do now?" I ask him. I don't even know where we are, much less where to go to next.

He shrugs. "We go to London?"

"But London's a big city! He could be anywhere!"

"Well, do you have any better ideas?"

Truth be told... I don't.

"Fine then. Let's go. But don't blame me if we never find him, Malfoy!"

"Scorpius," he corrects me.

"Er, right, Scorpius." It kind of feels weird to say his first name. "Well, shall we get on with it then?" I say, standing up and brushing of my shirt.

He stands up too. "Sure." And then he grabs my arm and before I know it, we're Side-Along Appartaing. Being totally unprepared, I feel as if I'm going to be sick, like the first time I Apparated with Dad. What is Malf- Scorpius thinking?

"Arse," I mutter as we land (well, he just stands there, and I stumble around for a couple of steps) in the Leaky Cauldron. "You're not going to be doing that again, are you?"

"Only if you're lucky," he replies, smirking.

We walk out and down the street, until I see the whizzing, glowing city of London unfold before me. Even in the early hours of the morning, there's people everywhere. "Shall we get breakfast?" I suggest, as I feel my stomach rumble as we pass a small bakery.

He nods his consent, and we walk inside. I inhale the scents of chocolate and flour and lick my lips. A man stands behind the glass display case, wiping up the back counter with a rag. He waves his hellos to us and offers us his latest creations. I choose a raspberry Danish donut, and Scorpius goes with a fluffy looking croissant. We eat happily as we walk down the block, until I remember that we're here to find Al, not enjoy good breakfast food. I cover my hands with my face, frustrated and scared.

"What is it, Weas- Rose?" Scorpius asks curiously.

I take my face out of my hands. "I came out here to rescue you, and now I've got to rescue Al, and we've no idea where he is!" I feel like I've lost all hope of finding him, and we haven't even looked yet.

"We've just got to get some hints," Scorpius suggest to me.

"Where do we get hints?" I look at him like he's crazy. What the heck is he talking about?

"I know a place," he says to me, grabbing my hand. "Come with me."

And we're Apparating again, landing in a dimly lit room.

I feel queasy again, and I'm worried I'll be seeing my tasty Danish again in a way I'd rather not. "I really wish you'd stop doing that."

**A/N So, I know what you're thinking. Who does this Ali chick think she is, not updating for so long?**

**Well, hopefully you're not thinking that, because people do that all the time on here! But anyways.**

**I don't know, I suppose life got in the way, as it does. I feel like a lot has happened! I mean, I got a "boyfriend" sort of and then we sort of broke up a couple days ago, all in the span of, like, two weeks. And school ended, finally! And my friend finally came out to her mom, and I finally finished this chapter!**

**So yay! Tell me what you think! I love you!**

**xx**

**Ali**


	7. Spying

"Sorry about that," Scorpius apologizes, though his smirk informs me he's not all that sorry. I shoot him a look, which only makes his smirk wider.

Looking around, I see we're in some dusty library, with floor to ceiling dark wood bookshelves laden with stacks and stacks of books. There's a lingering smell of musk and cigarette smoke.

"Where are w-" I begin, but Scorpius puts his hand over my mouth. I give him a "What the heck?" look and he just puts a finger to his lips. He turns my shoulders so I'm facing some bookshelf where he takes out a book with a green leather spine. We peek through and I see two boys in dark cloaks, talking.

"Have you got him back at Burke Manor or not?" growls the taller of the two. There's sandy colored hair poking out from his hood.

"Which one?" says the other boy. His voice is higher, and it seems a little shaken.

"The Potter boy of course- you've already managed to loose our dear friend Malfoy," the taller boy spits. The other boy winces slightly.

I glance at Malfoy, but he's still watching the two.

"Felix, I'm telling you, there was this girl and she-"

"Stop _lying _to me, Lawrence! We both know there is no girl! You're all just too incompetent to even hold _one _hostage! I don't know why I even entrust you with the second, as I'm sure he'll escape too!" Felix barks. Lawrence cowers a bit in his hood.

"I- I'm sorry, Felix-"

"It's Yaxley, don't call me _Felix_, that's what my mum called me," he corrects.

"Sorry, Yaxley, but there really was this girl and-"

"Okay, Lawrence, then tell me about this girl. What's her name?"

"I- I don't know, Yaxley, but she's got red hair and she's kind of short-"

I'm not that short! I just don't take after my dad is all... Scorpius looks at me and smirks. I stick my tongue out at him, and he laughs silently.

"Red hair? Are you sure?"

"Unmistakably." He nods his head fervently.

"And who do we know who has red hair, Lawrence?"

"I don't know, Yaxley, who?"

Felix Yaxley conks poor Lawrence on the head. "Weasleys, you moron. Weasleys have red hair! She must be one of them."

"So what does that mean for us?" Lawrence asks timidly. I'd feel sorry for the guy if it weren't for the fact he was a part of this Greater Good trend.

"It means there's one more person we've got to kill."

"At the Station?"

"Yes, at the Station. Where else, you idiot?" Yaxley rubs his temples. "Why does everyone have to be so _stupid_?"

Good question, Felix. Good question.

"So is Potter at the Manor or not?" he asks finally.

Lawrence's face blanches. "Um, no, Yaxley, not yet. He's still at the safe house." He's ducking as though Yaxley might hit him again. Much to our surprise, Yaxley pats him on the head.

"Good, because I want to put the proper charms to keep _this _one in place," he bites. "Clearly you aren't capable of that."

Lawrence just nods his head, staring at the ground.

"Have the arrangements been made for the gala, Lawrence? You had better tell me 'yes' or you'll be seeing a whole new side of my Cruciatus."

Lawrence winces again. "Well, they- they're almost done, sir, but we've got to get Bryant out to the-"

"They're not done, Lawrence? Tsk, tsk, how many times must I warn you?" Yaxley poses his wand to torture Lawrence, the poor kid.

"W- Wait! Wait! I have good news too!" Lawrence waves his hands frantically. Yaxley lowers his wand.

"And you think I'll be interested?"

"The Minister's going to be there!" Lawrence practically squeals.

Yaxley's lips curl into a grin. "Ah, the Minister's going to be there. Very well, Lawrence, shall we go check on our guest?"

"Our guest?" He sounds so confused! It's cute, like he's a giant toddler.

Yaxley smacks Lawrence's head again. "Potter, you moron. Potter is the guest. After all, we've only got until Wednesday to talk to him."

Lawrence looks up at Yaxley. "What do you mean, 'til Wednesday?"

Yaxley's hands curl up into tight fists. "Dear Lord, Lawrence, no wonder you dropped out of Durmstrang. Honestly, how are you not mentally disabled? The gala is on Tuesday, remember? You know, the very same gala where we're going to ransom off Potter and then kill him?"

My eyebrows shoot up. I look at Malfoy, who looks a little less surprised than me.

"But- but wait! How can we ransom him off if we're going to kill him anyway?"

"That's the point, you idiot. We'll take the money and kill him and then leave. Now come, let's go." Yaxley briskly grabs Lawrence's arm, spins, and with a dull _crack! _they're gone.

My face falls into my hands. "What are we going to _do_, Scorpius?" I feel like crying. It's so hopeless, we have no idea what's going on, and now Al is going to be killed by this scumbag and his dimwitted assistant!

"Rose, you know we're going to find him. We're not going to just sit around and do nothing, are we? We'll figure out what it all means," he tells me confidently. I really don't want to cry, because I hate crying, but I can't help it. I wipe a tear off my cheek with the back of my hand while I nod.

"Don't even worry about it, everything's going to be okay," he says soothingly, putting his hands on my shoulders. I nod again and give him a watery smile.

"How did you know to come here?" I finally manage after collecting myself.

He smirks. "Because I'm Scorpius Malfoy, of course."

I whack his arm lightly. "Seriously."

"Back at the Burke Manor, everyone kept reminding this bloke to go to a library this morning," he explains.

"So how did you know it was this one?" I ask.

"This is the only library I know of," he says, looking around.

"What do you mean?" I'm still kind of confused.

"We're in Malfoy Manor, Rose," he says softly, almost reluctantly. Apprehension dawns on my face. "They kept asking me to join them, and I think it was partly because they wanted to use my house as a base or something." He shakes his head to clear his thoughts. "Well, are you ready to leave, Miss Weasley?" he asks, extending his arm for me to grab. I hook arms with him and we Disapparate back to London, outside of the bakery we ate breakfast at. This time I don't feel quite as queasy.

"Thanks for the warning this time," I joke, brushing off my shirt. "So what's this gala they were talking about?"

"I don't know, but if it's something the Minister's attending then it's probably Ministry related, right?" suggets Scorpius.

That makes sense, except... "But Yaxley was surprised that he would be going, wasn't he?" I counter, worried.

"But the Minister hardly ever goes to public functions like galas, so maybe he just decided to come to this one," Scorpius tries.

I nod. "Well, okay, should we go the Ministry and tell them what Yaxley's planning to do?"

"Do you really think they'll believe the son of Draco Malfoy and a Weasley? They already think we're a bunch of spoiled brats as it is. They'll think we're making it up for attention or something," he says bitterly. It might sound a little dramatic but he's probably right. Besides, how crazy does this whole thing sound?

"So what do we do? I mean, we don't know anything about this gala or whatever, and we're supposed to somehow stop those nutters from kill- Wait, what are you smirking at?"

"'Those nutters'?" he repeats with laughter in his voice.

"Scorpius Malfoy! I am trying to be bloody serious here! Now focus, or so help me God, I will Avada your arse into the next ice age!" I swear, this boy drives me insane. Really! They're going to murder my cousin and all he can think about is the fact that I said 'nutters'! It's not like it's even that funny! What an arse!

Now he's just full on laughing. "I'm sorry, Rose, but you can't just go around saying things like that and not expect people to laugh!" he says.

I huff at him. "Well, if you're not going to help me, then I'll just do this on my own. Goodbye." I start walking down the street, but he easily catches up to me.

"Don't be such a drama queen, Rose. Besides, if there's some sort of social event, my Aunt Daphne will know about it. Now, if you don't mind, can we please just go?" He offers me his arm and I sigh.

"You're right, I'm sorry." I take his arm and we're gone in a flash.

We end up in a living room frighteningly adorned in white lace. There's a large doily on the round coffee table, the pillows on the green sofa have lace covers, the curtains are made of what looks like Chantilly lace; you get the picture. Everything else is either emerald green or a dark brown. Sipping tea on an uncomfortable looking wooden chair is a pale woman with dark brown hair, wearing a long black dress, like the kind you might wear to a funeral. She looks mildly surprised that we're here.

"Hello, Auntie," says Scorpius, bowing his head at her briefly.

When she smiles at us, her mouth takes up the majority of her face. She puts her teacup down on its saucer on the coffee table. "Well, hello there, my dear Scorpius. And who is this- _friend _you've brought here?" The way she says 'friend' makes me quite certain she doesn't like me, just by looking at me. I admit, my clothes may look a bit disheveled and I haven't combed my hair since early yesterday morning.

"This is Rose Weasley. Rose, this is my dear aunt, Daphne Greengrass," Scorpius says politely.

I take her hand in mine and shake it. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Greengrass," I say brightly, putting on my best smile.

She smiles politely at me, though I can tell it's not sincere. She's sort of glaring at my hand, so I nervously drop it to my side.

"And to what do I owe this pleasure, Scorpius?" she asks.

"Well, Auntie, were you invited to a gala recently?" Scorpius asks smoothly. I'm a little nervous how he's going to do this. Doesn't she know that Scorpius is supposed to be kind of AWOL right now?

"That's none of your business, darling, and shouldn't you be in school?" she counters, which confirms that she surprisingly doesn't know that he's "missing".

"Well, yes, but my mother wanted me to ask you for the details, because she couldn't read her invitation," he improvises. I just nod at this, as though I've heard this story before.

"Why not? She can read, can't she?" Daphne snaps.

"Er, well, yes, Auntie, but her letter- it, um-" He looks at me for help.

"-Got caught in the rain," I lie, and poorly. It hasn't rained in weeks, but I've got nothing else. "It got caught in the rain, so the ink smudged."

Scorpius smirks at me, and I want to laugh but I'm too nervous.

"It got caught in the rain," Daphne repeats flatly. "What rain?" Her eyes narrow at me. I have to admit, I feel a bit scared.

"My parents were on holiday in Romania, so it was raining when they got it." How can he keep his voice that calm? I can't understand it. It's like he's a natural born performer. Either that, or just a good liar.

"Ah, of course they were. Happiest little couple, are they?" she remarks sourly. Her lip curls. "Fine then. Accio invitation!" she chimes, raising her stubby wand. A cream colored piece of parchment lands in her hands. "Here you go, feel free to keep it. I shan't be going if your darling parents are." She looks like she's smelled something awful. "Now get out of here, I've got my company to attend to," she commands, before having an animated discussion about the tendencies of redheads with an invisible guest. Some of them make me blush.

Scorpius is trying not to laugh. "Thank you, Auntie." He kisses the top of her head and we walk outside of the house. The heavy wooden door closes with a thud.

"Nicely done, Rose. 'Caught in the rain'? That was brilliant." I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not, especially when he's smirking like that. We walk down the pathway leading to the front gate.

"Thanks," I reply. "And what was that all about? Why doesn't she like your parents?" I ask curiously.

"Well, you see, my father wasn't supposed to marry my mum. He was supposed to marry her sister, my aunt, Daphne, but then he and my mum fell in love, and the rest is history," he explains, as though he's told the story many times already. "My mum used to like to tell me the story before I fell asleep because she claimed it was 'so romantic' or some other rubbish like that," he adds fondly. I feel like he's told me a secret.

"Wait, but then why was she talking to herself?" I blurt.

He laughs a little. "I don't know, maybe being a spinster sent her off the deep end?"

Just like Scorpius to be a prick about everything!

But I can't help myself from giggling anyways.

**A/N Yay! Fast updating!**

**Don't you just love how much free time we have during the summer? I sure do, even if I do get extremely bored! But it's worth it, not to go to school!**

**So anyways. Not a lot of action in this chapter, but it gives you a lot of hints about what's to come! It was necessary for the plot to progress, anyways. Because guess what? I actually have a plan! Well, it's not really a plan... it's more like a super vague outline about what the chapters are about. (Sort of.) With this guide, there's going to be about 17 chapters in total, give or take a few. **

**Thanks so much for all your support, everybody! I love you guys!**

**xx**

**Ali**


	8. Punching

_You are cordially invited to the_

_24th Annual Ministry of Magic Auction and Gala_

_to celebrate history, friendship, and magic._

_Items for auction include a diamond necklace, said to have belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, _

_and brings sudden clarity to the wearer,_

_a ring bearing the Black family crescent from the 16th century,_

_and the bludger from the infamous accident at the 1924 Ireland vs. Norway match_

_and many more._

_~To be this Tuesday, 7pm, in the ballroom of the Magnum Palace~_

"An auction and gala," I read softly. My eyes meet Scorpius'.

"Yeah, my parents go to it every year," he says. "There's dancing and food and things like that."

"My mum says it's just an excuse for old woman to gossip, but she loves to dress up for it anyways," I tell him. She really does, too, which is odd because normally she doesn't care much what she looks like. But for these galas she goes all out- she even uses Sleakeasy Hair Potion, which I didn't even know she owned until I saw her getting ready for last year's gala. I think it's because when she comes down stairs in a ball gown Dad's jaw drops every time.

"Today's Sunday," Scorpius informs me randomly.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Mr. Malfoy," I tell him, a little confused.

He rolls his eyes at me. "No, I mean, this gala or whatever is in two days."

Oh wow. I hadn't even realized it, but he's right. What are we going to do? "Are we really just going to wait two days to try to get Al? That sounds mental!"

Scorpius runs his fingers through his hair, thinking. "We know he's probably at the Burke Manor by now. We should do something."

I nod. "But what are we going to do? There's only two of us and who knows how many of them! They'll bloody kill us!"

"Rose, we know they're all idiots, except for Yaxley, and he probably wouldn't bother himself with keeping watch over your cousin anyway," Scorpius reasons, but I can't help but have my doubts. He's got a point though, but I hate not knowing anything for sure. What if they're not as dumb as Scorpius thinks? What if Yaxley's really there? What if they've done something horrible to Al already?

I mean, it's not very likely, but what if?

But then, I'll never forgive myself if I don't try now and they kill him at the gala.

"Okay," I concede, "But we're going to need a plan."

Scorpius smirks. "I knew you'd come round."

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" I whisper, grass itching my ankles.

"Rose, we've gone over this a million times already. They'll be keeping him in the basement room, so we'll go in through the window and then-"

"I know, I know, then I untie Al while you take care of the person watching him and so on," I finish for him. I feel jittery and nervous and my hands are clammy. Of course, Scorpius manages to look totally calm, as if he does these rescue mission type things all the time. I glare at him in the dark, but it's mostly because of the nerves.

We've been sitting out here for only a couple minutes, after wasting the day going over our plan and waiting for the sun to set. And eating, of course. We got sandwiches from a deli and ate them on the steps of an old library for lunch. Dinner was at some little Muggle restaurant and I had a good laugh watching Scorpius try to guess what Toad-in-the-Hole was while he was scanning the menu.

But back to reality. All of that seems like it was days ago, maybe even weeks ago. Now I just feel scared.

"Are you ready?" Scorpius breaths in my ear. I feel a shiver down my spine and assume it's from nervousness. I start to nod my head until I realize he can't see me in the dark.

"I think so," I whisper, but my voice sounds shaky and I'm sure he can tell I'm afraid.

"Aren't you supposed to be a Gryffindor?" he says teasingly, to which I bat him on the arm. With that, I go through the small open window that I slid through before, the dim light making my skin look orange. Scorpius follows me in, and we start to look around.

But there's something completely wrong.

Al isn't here.

In fact, nobody's in this basement room. I rub my face in my hands. "Bloody hell."

"Rose, I-"

"Please stop talking. I can't believe you talked me into this! I bet they found out we were coming and took him someplace else! I bet they tortured him even more! I bet they killed him! And what if it's all our fault?" I hiss at him, my hands clenching into fists. "What if he's in pain or he's dying because we tried to break into this bloody manor and they hurt him and it's all our fault?" Maybe I'm a little hysterical, but it's like walking into your house, expecting to find your surprise birthday party, only to find no one actually planned one.

"Rose, calm down, he'll be okay. He can take care of himself," Scorpius murmurs with what I assume he thinks is a soothing voice. But it's not. It just makes me angrier.

"How can you sound so calm? He could be dead and we'd never even know!" I shout-whisper, marching around the room angrily until I accidentally bang my knee against the empty wooden chair. "Shit!" I shriek loudly, out of surprise and pain and lingering anger. But my eyes go wide and with a glance at my blond companion, he looks totally shellshocked as well. We stand, frozen and waiting for something to happen.

I hear voices from upstairs but I can't make out what they're saying. There's a screech- a chair backing up from a table?- and footsteps that sound like impending doom. Somebody is rushing down the stairs now, and there's no time to think or do anything. Before the shadow of a person comes into the light, I hear them say, "Accio wands!" and numbly feel my wand leave one of my fists.

Me and my big mouth.

"Well, if it isn't the scary redheaded monster and my little Scorpy, all nice and at my disposal," says a girl's voice, and Margaret Rosier's bodacious figure is illuminated as she takes a step towards us. I swear, this girl is just a big bag of crazy.

Wait. "Redheaded monster?" I can't help but blurt, confused and annoyed and still angry at the lack of my cousin.

She giggles. "Well, it's what you are, isn't it?"

I purse my lips.

"So what are you both doing here?" she asks, twisting a piece of her dark hair around a slender finger.

"We came to... reconsider," Scorpius says smoothly, but when I look at him, he looks a little more nervous than I'd like him to be.

"Reconsider?" Margaret quips. "Whatever do you mean, Scorpy dear?"

I glance at Scorpius' neck, where the hickey is still evident, though lighter than it was yesterday, and fight the urge to gag.

"We want to join you. And _I _want you, Margaret. Will you have me?" he says softly, taking her hands in his, their bodies centimeters apart. I ignore the twisting sensation in my stomach. He's quite the actor... And this is acting, isn't it? I'm sure it is, but I can't get rid of the itch of doubt in the back of my mind.

"Ha!" Margaret cries, dropping Scorpius' hands. "As if I'd have you, seeing as you've been fucking this half-breed scum!" She laughs derisively and I can't take it anymore. How dare she call me a half-breed, as if that's some sort of insult! And scum? I'm not scum either! In fact, the only person in the room worthy of scum status would be crazy Margaret Rosier! How in the world could she think that in this situation _I _am the scum!

Besides, she must be crazy if she thinks Scorpius and I have been, er, "fucking," as she so nicely put it.

So I do the only logical thing in this situation. I punch her.

"Whore!" she wails, and as she grasps her cheek with both hands, she drops all three of the wands. I take my wand and Scorpius takes his and Margaret's. I push the poor girl against the wall.

"Now tell us where Al is!"

She looks so frightened that I'm tempted to just let her go, but I can't. Not until she helps me find Al. "H- He's upstairs, on the top floor, in the guest room," she whimpers, shaking.

I let her go before Scorpius stuns her. Our eyes meet, and he raises an eyebrow at me, as if to say, "Shall we go on?"

"Wait," I whisper. "We need to figure out some sort of plan first, right? We can't just go in and attack however many people are in this stupid house!"

Scorpius sighs. "Alright. One of us distracts them while the other goes upstairs and looks for Albus."

"Okay, so you'll distract while I go upstairs."

"What? No, I should be the one to go upstairs, and you should distract," he argues.

I roll my eyes. "Oh yes, because I'm so great at making things up. I thought that was _your _area of expertise. 'Ooooh Margaret, take me baaaack!'" I mimic, albeit poorly.

Now he rolls his eyes at me. "Fine, since you're clearly not capable at all at acting."

"Fine," I say. "You go up the stairs, and I'll go outside and find a way in that doesn't involve being seen."

"Fine," he says dismissively, and with a humph, I climb out of the window. I hear Scorpius' footsteps echoing in the small room, and I start looking around for a way to get in. He can only be distracting for so long.

There's a tall tree with long branches, some of which go close to some of the upstairs windows. Unfortunately, it's so dark around here that I can barely see the trunk of the tree. But climbing it seems like the only option, and so I feel the trunk with my hands to get a better sense of it. It's low enough that I can climb to the base of the limbs fairly easily, but in this light, I just can't tell if the branches are thick enough to support my wait.

I tie my hair in a tangled bun, mutter "Lumos," while holding my wand, and then stick it through my hair. If it falls out, I'm totally screwed, but for once, I'm grateful for having such knotty hair at the moment. The light still doesn't illuminate very much, but at least I can see what's right in front of me. I climb the trunk of the tree, and look around at all my options. There are only a few branches that look thick enough, but the only one that's close enough to a window looks like it will barely support me. I take my chances and start sliding out on the branch.

The branch starts bouncing when I'm less than a meter away from where I started. I cling on to the branch for dear life and wait for the bouncing to subside. Once it has, I continue to slide farther down on the branch, which gets thinner and thinner the farther I go out. Twigs scratch at my legs and arms but I ignore them and keep sliding. I'm almost at the end when I realize the branch is way too skinny to sit on to get close enough to the window.

And then the branch slides out from under me. I gasp. I'm vaguely aware that I'm falling towards the ground, but I can't let myself fall. My hands reach out towards the house, trying to grab onto something or anything or whatever my hands can grasp. One of my hands catches a windowsill, and I bring my other hand up. The window's closed tight, though, but I don't want to risk punching it open, because I know the glass will get wedged into my hand which is really the last thing I want to happen right now.

I have to get my wand out of my hair.

Oh, Merlin, somebody up there hates me.

Reluctantly, I drop my right hand from the ledge, but I can already feel the fingers of my other hand slipping. My right hand pats frantically around the back of my head, seeking my wand, but I feel my hand bump into it, causing it to slide out. It's slipping but I can't catch it in time and I watch it fall, silently. I put my hand back on the ledge.

I am so bloody screwed.

But wait... Where is it? Glancing over my shoulder, I can't see a speck of light on the grass. And that's when I notice a light coming out of my combat boot.

Hey, maybe somebody up there really is looking out for me after all!

But then again, I have to somehow get my wand out of my shoe without plummeting to the ground. I bite my lip and squeeze my eyes shut as I bend my leg up and grasp desperately for the bloody stick. I feel my fingers curl around it just as my other hand starts slipping.

"Ascendio!" I shriek, and as the window slams open, I put my wand into my mouth to hold as I clamp both hands on the open windowsill, and wish for all I'm worth that I had more upper body strength. I reach up and feel scratchy cloth, which I assume to be a curtain, and yank hard, my feet scaling the side of the house. Finally, I manage to get my feet on the windowsill, and I tumble inside, landing on wooden floor.

I breathe hard, laying on the floor for a moment to catch my breath.

Standing up and dusting myself off, I turn on the light, and see that I'm in an old bedroom laden with musty quilts full of moth holes. I open the door, looking out into the hallway, only to discover the corridor is lined with about a dozen doors.

Suddenly, one of the doors opens, and a boy wearing a hooded cloak steps out.

"Ah, Rose Weasley, it's about time you showed up."

And then Felix Yaxley begins to laugh.

Bloody hell.

**A/N OMG! What's going to happen next?**

**Well, hopefully, if I get my act together, you'll find out sometime in the next couple of days! Yay!**

**But sadly though, in case you didn't read Love Is (my latest one-shot! Check it out! Wink wink!) and see the A/N there, this is because I'm going to be gone from computers for all of July because I'm going to sleep away camp. Sorry everyone! I'll really try to make it up in the next few days and the days I get home, though! I have plenty of ideas already!**

**Also noted in the A/N of Love Is (What? You still haven't checked it out? And what is this? You should also check out Nerdgasm too?) I just came back from a trip to Turkey! It's amazing and beautiful and a lot of fun and you should allllllll go there sometime! The food there is amazing!**

**And a special thanks to those of you who not only review this story (and sometimes every chapter of this story) but who read my other fics and reviewed those too! I love all you, dear readers, I really do! Did you know this story has 46 people who Story Alerted it? Is that not insane? I mean, imagine if all those lovely, beautiful people reviewed every chapter! Crazy, I know! Take the hint!**

**So please, my lovies, review. Sorry for the minor suckage of this chapter! Keep on reading and reviewing!**

**xx**

**Ali**


	9. Declining

**A/N OMG! Super fast update! Review!**

I'm frozen, watching as Yaxley absentmindedly rolls his wand between his fingers.

I can hear Scorpius' voice echoing from downstairs. "What I'm trying to tell you is that I want in," I hear him say. They make faint noises of objection that I can't make out.

Yaxley pulls off his hood. "I assume you're here to look for your cousin dearest, aren't you?" He's grinning something awful. I raise my wand, but his "Expelliarmus!" comes too fast. My wand flies out of my hand and over the staircase banister, clattering on the marble floor below. "Sorry, Rosie, but it had to be done," he says calmly, resuming to roll his wand around.

"Where is he? What have you done to him?" My voice sounds weak, drained of any false confidence I might have been able to muster if I'd been holding my wand.

Yaxley only grins broader. "He'll be fine, once I'm through with him, so long as he chooses the right side here."

"The right side? You've got to be kidding me. Do you honestly believe that whatever you're attempting to do is right?" I counter, completely aghast.

Yaxley only gives a small sigh before saying, "Oh, Rosie, someday you'll understand that what we're doing is not only right, but exactly what you want."

My jaw drops. "First off, stop calling me Rosie, and secondly, you're so bloody mental that if you didn't have a wand right now I'd probably have to hit you!"

He laughs, which isn't exactly the effect I was going for. "Tsk, tsk, Rose. Your sharp tongue could get you in trouble if I weren't myself. Fortunately for you, I am, and all I'm going to do is lock you away until you decide you've changed your mind and help us blow up King's Cross. Now how does that sound to you, Rosie?"

Who the heck does this guy think he is? The Minister of Magic? And wait- blow up King's Cross? What is he on about?

"Help you blow up King's Cross? As in the train station? Why would you want to do that?" I question. Why is it that things can't ever just go the way I plan? And why are some people just so screwed up?

"Rose, Rose, Rose. Don't you understand?" He adopts the tone of an adult talking to a small child. "You see, Rosie Posie, there are _Muggles _at King's Cross Station. And if we blow it up, those Muggles won't be there anymore, see?"

"You're completely delusional. That's the only explanation," I blurt, so totally flabbergasted by this guy that I can't even think straight.

"I'm not delusional, Rose, and I didn't think you were either until you decided that breaking in here would be a good idea. Ha! As if you could've just swept in and rescued your cousin and run off. As if Scorpius Malfoy would somehow aid you! No, Rose, if anyone's delusional, it's _you_. So now, without further ado- Stupefy!" he shouts, a jet of red light streaming from his wand. I duck out of the way and jump over the banister.

I fall and anticipate a crash, but when I'm about a meter from the ground, I find myself hovering. Looking around, I see it's Yaxley, now standing next to me and levitating me with his wand.

"You're insane, Rose Weasley. I have to admit, it'd be kind of hot, if you weren't a silly blood traitor whore," he says, his tone bitter.

"I'm not a whore," I protest, trying to stand and failing. "What is with you Greater Good kids thinking I am?" Really. If only they got to know me first. Ha!

"Oh yes, you're certainly not a whore, even though you ran off from your precious little school to rescue none other than Scorpius Malfoy, not only a disgrace to the pureblood society, but renowned for his _personal _life. I would have expected you to be smarter than to fall into his little mind games, Rosie, but you girls are all the fucking same. You don't care what a boy believes in so long as he's got great hair, isn't that right?" His voice, which is still hostile and severe, drops to barely more than a whisper. "Well, Rosie, I've got great hair, too, don't I? You could be my whore so long as you play by the rules." He raises me up so my face is inches away from his and I can feel his hot breath on my face.

I spit on him, effectively making him lower his wand to wipe off the glob of saliva from his cheek. I land on the floor with a thud, and I can feel my shins bruising, but it doesn't matter; I still manage to knee him in the groin quite effectively.

"You crazy bitch!" he exclaims, covering the effected area with his hands. I use the opportunity to grab my wand off the floor and run towards the sound of Scorpius' voice, slipping twice.

He's in the living room, surrounded by a bunch of kids also wearing cloaks, mid-sentence. "And that's when I changed my m-"

"What's she doing here?"

"Holy shit, it's the Weasley girl!"

"Somebody stun her!"

Curses start flying, and I'm nearly hit with the Cruciatus. Scorpius shouts back curses and I frantically spew hexes and Shield Charms. We start running out of the living room into a small corridor, where several of the kids have followed blue light from a nameless curse nearly grazes my shoulder as I hiss, "Let's get out of here," to Scorpius, grabbing his arm and Disapparating to the first place I can think of: Diagon Alley.

The streetlights are on and there are still patrons walking about, despite the fact it must be around nine on a Sunday.

"I take it you didn't find Albus," Scorpius says almost condescendingly, running his fingers through his slightly messy hair.

I huff at him. "Obviously not. I climbed a bloody tree, and, as it turns out, our dear friend Felix was most certainly there, and he went all 'I know you are but what am I' on me, offered me the oh-so tempting position of being his 'whore' and then I jumped down about a flight of stairs and here we are, thank you very much," I finish, even giving a sarcastic bow.

"No need to be so dramatic."

I turn away and start walking down the cobblestone street, and he follows. "So what's our new plan then, oh brilliant one?" I ask in a sugary tone.

Out of the corner of my eye I see him smirk. "Simple. We go to the gala, stop Yaxley, and get Albus back."

"Simple. Yes. That's exactly the word that comes to mind when I think about stopping some sort of evil plot we know virtually nothing about that involves a bunch of loonies murdering my couisn. You literally took the words right out of my mouth!"

"Cool it with the sarcasm, Rose. It's not my fault you didn't find him. Besides, it's not like we've got any other plan," he tells me, with good reason.

"Well, we could always try again tomorrow," I start, but then I sigh. "No, you're right, it's probably pointless. It can't possibly go any better than it did today. We don't even know if he's there or not." We walk in silence for a few moments, the night air cool. I shiver and I can feel goosebumps on my arms.

Scorpius, to my surprise, not only notices but plays nice. "You're cold. Let's get something to drink," he says softly, leading me over to the Leaky Cauldron. It's warm inside, with a fire in the fireplace and a large crowd of people we can blend into. We sit at a table towards the back and wait for the waitress, Lei, to stop by our table.

"So what are we even going to do at this gala thing?" I ask, staring at the flame of the candle stub illuminating our table.

"I'm not sure. Why would Yaxley bring him to a gala?" Scorpius asks, thinking aloud.

"And why would it matter if the Minister would be there or not?" I add, puzzling. I pull out the invitation from my rucksack and read over it again. _You are cordially invited to the 24th Annual Ministry of Magic Auction and Gala... _"Auction and gala... auction and gala... Why would he bring him to an auction and gala?"

"Nothing about it makes sense," Scorpius laments, his frustration evident.

But before I can add anything, Lei shows up with her trusty notepad. "Hi there! You two ready to order?" she asks in her sweet soprano voice.

I look to Scorpius but he's already ordering for us. "Just two Firewhiskeys for now, thanks," he answers, giving her a charming smirk. I try not to roll my eyes as her always-there smile becomes a complete beam. Typical.

"Sure thing, honey," she says, and walks away to another table, looking back at Scorpius a couple times along the way.

Scorpius and I sit in an empty silence for a moment, only for him to break it by saying, "So, he really asked you to be his whore?" His smirk is back in place.

I ball up my paper napkin and throw it at his head. "Yes, he did, thanks for bringing it up." But I can't help smiling slightly too. It _is _rather ridiculous when you think about it. I mean, me? Not just someone's girlfriend or hookup buddy but flat out whore? What is this, some sort of 19th century soap opera?

"He's more mental than I thought," Scorpius says, shaking his head.

I smile, but I quickly remember the task at hand. "But really, what are they going to do with Al at the gala?"

"You mean the big, fancy Ministry gala?" interrupts Lei, who just walked over carrying our two glasses. She puts them on the table in front of us and doesn't wait for a reply. "I'm so excited! Can't you just feel that only amazing things happen at places like the old Magnum Palace?" she sighs wistfully, a faraway look in her brown eyes.

Scorpius and I exchange a look and I bite my lip to hide my laughter.

"I agree, Lei. It's the kind of place where anything can happen," Scorpius agrees, adopting her daydreaming tone. He glances at me and I can tell he's just playing around with her. And she totally falls for it, too! Why are girls so completely uncomplicated when it comes to boys like Scorpius Malfoy? Really. It's maddening.

"Yeah," she breathes, her eyes locked on the blonde idiot sitting across from me. I roll my eyes but only Scorpius notices, and he pretends he doesn't anyway. "Anything." She bats her eyelashes like a thirteen year old girl. "I've got to go to another table, but I guess I'll see you at the gala?" She's trying to sound casual but the hint of desperation is still in her voice.

He takes her unsuspecting hand and kisses it. "Of course."

She's blushing as she walks away.

I make gagging noises while I stick my finger in my open mouth.

Scorpius smirks. "What? You didn't like that little display of acting?"

I snort. "I didn't like that little display of you being a complete arse, more like." I take a large gulp of Firewhiskey and let the burning sensation overwhelm me for a moment.

"Oh please, Rose. Jealousy doesn't look good on any face," he says all haughty, and I'm reminded of why I never liked this guy in the first place.

"And what exactly am I suppose to be jealous of?" I ask, incredulous and irritated. I mean, really. Me? Jealous of some girl Scorpius hit on? My insides twist. Just because he happens to be a really, really good looking guy doesn't mean I have to swoon at the sight of him.

He replies calmly, "Of the fact that a stringy haired waitress gets more male attention than you even in a bar."

What an arse! "Actually, I get plenty of male attention everywhere I go. Of course you'd be too self-absorbed to notice," I retort.

He shrugs nonchalantly, because that is how big of an arse he is. "Whatever helps you fall asleep at night."

I reach across the table and grab his napkin, which I ball up and throw at his head once more. I cross my arms and we sit silently for a moment, where I try to cool down and he innocently sips his Firewhisky.

"So," I say finally, my voice a little softer than usual, "back to Al."

Scorpius gives a nod. "Alright, well, it's an auction and gala. How could that benefit Yaxley?"

"Maybe there's something he wants to buy?" I suggest, still thinking deeply in my mind. "But what would he want?"

"I don't know, maybe the necklace? It seems the most likely out of the three," he reasons.

"But there are more items for auction there, and maybe he has some insight to what they are."

We think for a moment, both of our brows furrowed as our minds churn.

"But how can we find out what he's trying to buy if we don't know what the-" I start, only to be cut off.

"Wait! What if he's not trying to _buy _something!" Scorpius says excitedly. I'm confused, and I'm sure I look it. "Rose, what if he's trying to _sell _something? What if he's trying to auction off Albus Potter!"

My jaw drops open. "Scorpius, you're bloody brilliant! How could we not think of this before!" I take a final gulp of Firewhiskey and stand up, dropping a few coins on the table.

"Where are you going?" he asks, but he stands up as well.

"We've got to get ready for this gala. Do you have dress robes?"

"Yeah, but they're at my house."

"Well, I suppose we'll have to get them tomorrow," I reply, ignoring his confused face.

"So do you have dress robes?" he asks.

I shake my head. "Not unless you count the ones I wore in third year."

"Then I guess we've got to get you some."

"Good," I answer, remembering something suddenly, "because I've got a coupon."

**A/N Oh hey there, my pretties! So, not a whole lot happened in this chapter, but then when I looked at the word count, it was already about 2,500 which I totally wasn't expecting because it feels a lot shorter to me! Maybe that just means it was easy to write? I don't know, so I want you opinion! Did it seem to short?**

**Well, either way, don't worry because a new chapter will be coming to you shortly!**

**Also, the waitress, Lei, is named after my new blackmail-loving friend, DarbeLei. Perhaps this will bribe you into finishing your gosh darn drabble and letting me read it? And sorry for calling you stringy haired... it was necessary for the character!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviews and reads and favorites and story alerts! You're the macaroni to my cheese, good friends! ;)**

**So... review!**

**xx**

**Ali**


	10. Dancing

**A/N Holy shoot! Double digits!**

**Also, incredibly sorry for the delay. I got back from camp over a week ago, where I had a great time and was very sad to leave! But, now I get to update my fanfic! ...Yay!**

The same trendy girl who handed me the coupon is working behind the register at Second Time Round today. She gives me the standard greeting without looking up from a notepad she's scribbling at: "Hi, welcome to Second Time Round. Tell me if you need anything."

Scorpius looks tentative to be in a place like this. Perhaps it's just the dust, but I suspect he isn't too keen on being in a second-hand clothing store. He flips through a rack of button down shirts that look like they haven't seen the light of day since the 70's. His grimace makes his distaste much too obvious and I can't help but smile.

I walk up to the counter. "Hi, I don't know if you remember me but-"

As soon as she sees me, her eyes light up. "Oh! You're the girl who was looking for Borgin and Burkes!" She looks at Scorpius. "Is that the bloke you were meeting? Wow, if he invited _me _to Borgin and Burkes I wouldn't mind, either." She winks at me and I blush, mortified. I give her a weak smile though, because, after all, I did tell her I was going to meet a boy there. Might as well be Scorpius, right?

I blink, trying to get the image of Scorpius and I, er, _meeting _at Borgin and Burkes out of my head.

"Actually, I was wondering, does the coupon you gave me still work?" I ask the girl (her name tag says "Sammy"), ignoring my sudden antsy feeling as I drum my fingers on the counter.

"It's still the weekend, isn't it?" she says jokingly, the teeth of her smile white against her tan face. "I take it you're looking for something to wear to the big Ministry bash this Tuesday?"

Well, if you can call a Ministry auction and gala where a teen terrorist is going to show up a "big Ministry bash," then I guess so! But of course, instead of saying that out loud, I merely reply, "Yeah, I can't believe I've put it off for so long!" and try to act like the giggly kind of girl who gets excited for these kinds of things.

Sammy waves away what I've said. "Don't worry about it, there'll be girls showing up here Tuesday afternoon, I guarantee it." I smile at her. "Let me show you the best dresses," she adds, leading me to a rack. She looks me over and pulls out a number of dresses before leading me to the fitting room.

I try on dress after dress, but none of them seem right. This one's too orange, that one has too many sequins, this one looks like a giant canary carcass, and so on.

After putting on a turquoise dress that's very hard to breathe in, I open the curtain and let Sammy look me over. Scorpius snorts and I shoot him a look.

"Hmm... doesn't look very comfortable," Sammy observes, for which I am grateful. I nod my head and start to close the curtain again, but Sammy stops me. "Hold on," she leans in closer to me and looks at Scorpius while she whispers, "I think I've got the perfect dress to impress your good friend there." Grinning wryly, she goes into a back room and comes back with an opaque gray garment bag.

She hands it to me and shoves me back into the fitting room. "Well, go ahead, try it on!" she urges from outside.

I unzip the bag and pull out a one-strapped ball gown in a beautiful spring green color. The strap is decorated with two giant pale green flowers, and a cluster of three flowers of the like meet at the hip. The bottom part is the same pale green of the flowers with an overlay of some sheer spring green fabric.

I try it on immediately but I can't reach the zipper. "Sammy?" I call out. "Could you help me with the zipper?"

She comes in and zippers me up, and we both look at my reflection in the mirror covering the back wall. And then something funny happens.

It looks good.

Really, really good.

I feel like a fairy or a princess or something equally neurotic but for some reason, this makes me smile.

"Oh, it's perfect!" Sammy squeals excitedly. "Let's get you out of it so you can buy it!"

I nod, and she unzips me before putting the dress. I look at the tag, and I'm surprised to see that it's actually a decent price. Plus, with the forty percent off coupon, it's practically a steal. She puts the dress back in the garment bag and goes back to the cash register while I put my clothes back on.

Scorpius stands up from the pile of pants he was sitting on. "Are we done here?" he asks, exasperated.

"Yeah, just let me pay."

* * *

"Scorpius," I say, pawing through my rucksack as we stand in the Leaky Cauldron once again, "I don't have enough money with me to pay for two rooms."

He raises an eyebrow. "I guess we'll have to share one."

I sigh. "At this point, I suppose I'll have to accept anything."

I sign my name in the guest book as Hufflepuff and put money into the silver cup beside it, which then spouts out a key. Scorpius catches it between his thumb and his forefinger.

"Show off," I tease, and we make our way up the stairs and down the hall to room one hundred eighty-three. The room is decent, but kind of small, what with only one queen sized bed, a shiny wood dresser, and a bedside table. I toss my rucksack on the floor and lay my dress at the the foot of the bed before flopping onto it. Suddenly, I feel exhausted. Maybe the past few events of the past two days have finally caught up with me.

Scorpius sits down next to me.

"So what are we doing tomorrow?" he asks, kicking his shoes off, and I do the same before yawning and rubbing my eyes sleepily.

"Sneaking into your house to get your dress robes," I reply rather calmly. I'm too tired to register the enormous amount of risk this has potentially.

Scorpius runs his fingers through his hair. "If you says so."

The fact that I'm not only laying in bed next to Scorpius but actually falling asleep here doesn't alarm me nearly as much as it should, and soon enough, I'm dead asleep.

"Morning, redheaded monster," Scorpius greets me as I wake up and realize that my hand is curled around his.

I quickly retract it before I sit up. "What is going on?"

Scorpius rolls his eyes. "You fell asleep there, and I didn't want to wake you up."

Oh.

I was holding his hand?

...And he didn't stop me?

I ignore whatever thoughts my brain is trying to shove to the forefront of my mind.

"Shall we get a move on, then?" I try, standing up and straightening my crinkled shirt.

"Rose, it's nine in the morning. We have all of today and tomorrow to go to my house."

"Well then, what do you suppose we do for forty-eight hours?" I put my hands on my hips.

He smirks. "Let's start with breakfast."

Soon enough, we're leaving the Leaky Cauldron after eating a complimentary breakfast of toast and eggs. I walk out the door, but Scorpius pauses for a moment.

"Wait, where's your rucksack?" he asks. My eyes widen.

"Oh! I left it on the back of my chair!" I hit my forehead.

He sighs. "I'll get it, then."

He walks back in the door and I'm outside by myself, watching as more and more people emerge onto the street.

"Weasley!" someone with a nasal voice calls, and impulsively I look in the direction it came from. All I'm met with is the sight of three jets of red light, headed straight at me.

The last thing I'm aware of before I'm hit is someone's cry of, "Rose!" and then everything goes black.

I wake up in someplace with a white ceiling. My partially opened eyes trace over the cracks as I feel myself regaining consciousness.

"Rose?" someone whispers. Scorpius' face comes into view. "Are you finally awake?"

"Whaaaa?" I mumble, still not completely with it. I look up at him with a dazed expression. "You hair looks..." I search for the right word, "soft."

He smirks at me before standing up out of his chair. I watch as he opens a dark wood wardrobe and pulls out the garment bag. It takes me a moment to realize he's already in his dress robes, white bow-tie and all. I don't want to admit it but he looks, to put it simply, perfect. I can't help smiling.

"Put this on, we've got about thirty minutes before seven," he tells me, handing me the bag, still on its wire hanger.

My eyebrows furrow. "But the gala's tomorrow," I tell him.

"Rose, it _is tomorrow. You've been out for almost twenty-four hours."_

"What?" I don't understand. "What happened?"

Scorpius rolls his eyes. "You somehow managed to get stunned by three of those Greater Good morons while I was getting your rucksack. They were about to Disapparate with you when I-" But he stops, looking embarrassed. "Well, I got you out and now we're at my house, and nobody knows we're here."

"But how did you get me away?"

His cheeks are tinged pink, a sight I've never seen before. I hadn't thought it possible.

"I, sort of, well I- I stunned the first two, and then the third guy tried to kill me but he missed and then I Body-Bound him and then I Disapparated here with you." He looks away, playing with his cufflink.

I can't believe it! Scorpius, well, rescued me! He nearly was killed, too! "Thank you," I say, and I can't put enough of my gratitude into the phrase.

"It's not a big deal," he brushes off. "But really, you should shower and get dressed. The bathroom's through that door."

"Oh, right," I say, standing. "But thanks again, really. For saving me."

He half-smiles. "Well, I guess we're even now."

I take the dress bag and my rucksack into the bathroom with me. My mouth falls slightly as I look around. It's so... perfect. Clean, colorful tiles; a clawfoot tub with a shiny chrome shower head, a stack of fluffy white towels. It's like something from a magazine. I guess I hadn't been quite with it when I was looking around what I realize now is Scorpius' room. Because we're in Scorpius' house! But it's no house. No, it's the infamous Malfoy Manor where my mother and father and uncle were brought to, where Scorpius' great aunt tortured my mother. Perhaps it should be a place I should despise, but even the bathroom is beautiful.

I take a shower long enough for me to feel clean again after three days, soaping up my hair with Scorpius' shampoo. When I finally come out, I feel refreshed. Invigorated. Like I'm ready to take on the world.

Which, of course, is kind of what I'll be doing there.

I guess I better enjoy the feeling while it lasts, then.

I dig through my rucksack to find a nice pair of underwear. It's one of those things I have to do- find a cute pair. It gives me a sort of confidence, even though nobody's going to see them. And I need all the confidence I can get.

I slip the dress on and manage, after struggling for a bit, to zipper it by myself. After a quick hair drying charm my mother taught me and the fumbling of my fingers tying my curls into a loose bun... well, I suppose that's as ready as I'll ever be. It would be nice if I had pretty shoes to wear, but I suppose my battered combat boots will have to do. I look in the mirror.

Hey, I could look worse.

Actually, I could look a lot worse. Whole shades of worse.

I grin.

I know, I know. I'm supposed to be grave yet determined about this whole gala and everything. Especially since I'm trying to save my cousin's life, and could probably lose my own in the process.

But I can't help it! There's just something exciting about getting dressed up for a special occasion, you know!

I open the door from the bathroom to Scorpius' room and step out. He's standing in front of his bookshelf that I hadn't noticed earlier, and he's flipping through a book when he starts talking and turning around. "We're already ten minutes late. I just hope nothing's happened yet but-" He stops once he's facing me. I feel my heartbeat as his eyes widen slightly.

...Not that it matters?

Heh.

"You look-" he starts softly, but then something shifts his eyes, "like you'll... blend in nicely."

I laugh. "Oh, gee, thanks," I tease, but he just smirks. I suppose that's as close as I'll ever get to a compliment from him.

"Well then," he says, closing the few steps between us. Suddenly he grabs my hand and I feel myself inhale sharply. He's so close...

And then-

He spins on his heel, and we've Apparated to the Magnum Palace. When I turn to glare at him, he's smirking to himself.

"You're such a prat," I say, but I can't help smiling despite the fact I feel slightly dizzy. At least I don't have to worry about vomiting since I haven't eaten anything since before my little coma.

What an arse.

I quickly get over my annoyance when I see the Magnum Palace. It's beautiful, with its great gray stones crisscrossed with ivy and the first floor windows lit up with an orange glow. The sky above is already dark but here in the countryside you can see the stars. Why people ever stopped living in the Magnum Palace I'll never understand.

"Well?" Scorpius ask quietly. "Shall we go in?"

"What?" I mumble. "Oh, right- yeah."

After showing our invitation to a security guard, we walk through the large wooden door that's carved with fairy tales and into an entry hallway that's chilly and dim, and then from there into the great hall, where the party is. Music is coming from a small band made of a cellist, a bearded guitarist, a pianist, and a raspy vocalist, all dressed in hip purple dress robes and slicked back hair. On one side of the room is a dance floor, where there's a swirl of dresses and the sound of people laughing and talking and socializing. There are round tables around the edges, laden with food. Behind the filmy magical divider is the auction side, where people bid on historical items. We can't here their voices, though. The divider prevents it. All you have to do is walk through it to get to the other side.

I wait for something to happen, but nothing does.

In fact, Scorpius and I end up waiting for over an hour for something to happen. We slip to the edges where no one will notice us and I ate greedily for a little while at one of the tables while Scorpius watched in amusement, but now, nothing is happening. At least, nothing related to Yaxley. I've been trying to look out for anyone of those Greater Good kids but all I've spotted are a couple of my parents' friends, some relatives, and the Malfoys. Scorpius and I hid behind a marble column when his parents had danced their way in our table's direction. I was surprised I hadn't seen my parents, but I realized Mum probably dragged Dad to the auction.

And so now, here we are, bored out of our wits.

At least, I'm bored. I don't know about Scorpius. He always looks like he's thinking something important. Or, at least, something he thinks is important. But now I'm kind of eagerly anticipating the arrival of Felix Yaxley, assuming he comes. It would at least give me something to do besides sitting here, drumming my fingers on the table.

I start tapping my foot in a rhythm with my fingers when Scorpius stands up suddenly.

"Rose, do you want to dance?" He asks it as if it's an obvious question.

"What?" I reply, the epitome of smart.

"Come dance with me."

"But I- But we- But someone will spot us or-" I splutter.

Scorpius smirks. "Oh, Rose, I can see right through you."

My face goes blank. He can see right through me! He knows- what? He knows just what exactly, Rose Weasley? There is nothing for him to know anyways! Clearly.

So tentatively, I ask, "And what exactly are you seeing?"

"You're covering for the fact you're a terrible dancer, of course."

I can't help laughing. "I'm not a bad dancer!"

"Prove it, then," he says as he grabs my hand and whisks me to the dance floor.

The band plays a waltz, which is a simple enough dance my mother taught me when I was a little girl. "In case you ever have to dance with a prince one day," she'd said. I can do the steps, and we even manage a twirl here and there. But I don't worry too much about dancing perfectly. I'm just enjoying the time I have while everything is still peaceful here. I try not to think about the fact that Al may be dead and if not may be soon.

After the waltz ends, the music transitions into some slow pop song about love potions and that kind of rubbish. The singer's voice is soft and husky, like a whisper, except magnified. We keep dancing. My arms wrap around his neck and his arms wrap around my waist naturally.

"You're a better dancer than I thought," Scorpius says softly, the corners of his mouth raised.

"Well," I say, meeting his gaze and grinning, "You're a better person than I thought."

I look into his eyes for a moment longer and tilt my head to the side.

I can't stop myself from looking at his lips. They're pink and they look so soft... I'd never noticed before.

He's leaning towards me and I lean up at him and my eyelids flutter shut. I'm anticipating the kiss but I know I'll never get it when I hear someone's voice, so loud it seems like its surrounding us.

"GOOD EVENING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. THERE'S BEEN A CHANGE OF PLANS. IF EVERYONE COULD PLEASE JOIN US AT THE AUCTION FOR THE CHANCE TO BID ON A VERY SPECIAL ITEM, PLEASE DO SO NOW! I'M YOUR NEW HOST, FELIX YAXLEY!"

Well, shoot.

**A/N Okay. Now here's a longer apology for not writing sooner!**

**I'M SOOOOOO SORRY! I've had ideas for this chapter for a while though, but I just couldn't write it until now. Thanks so much for everyone who has reviewed or Favorited or subscribed to this story! And thanks especially to those of you who read it! I can't believe I waited this long! What was I thinking?**

**But anyways, I had a great time at camp! I may have possibly even fallen in lurrrve! Oh yes, with this amazing Indie kid who's amazing and I love him even though he lives one state away. He smells amazing, too! GAHH.**

**Anyways.**

**This chapter was pretty long, so... it can almost kiiinda make up for the delay? Heh heh... yeah? Even though it's kinda choppy and not-so-good?**

**Oh! And... ALMOST KISS? WHAT THE WHAT? DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING? WHAT?**

**Tell me what you thought about that and more in... A REVIEW! YAYYYYY.**

**In fact, tell me anything in a review! Your favorite color, your favorite car, things you hate, things you can't live without... anything! So long as you review... and your review has at least something a little bit to do with the story. But yes.**

**And, a special shout out to a couple wonderful people!**

**One to yellow14, who has been reviewing my stories from the start. Thanks so much for the support and I love you!**

**And another to weird-cute-n-random (Darbe) who is my bestestestestest online friend! She does nice things for meez, yessiree. :) She also wants to tell me more about her new guy friend/ almost boyfriend she mentioned... Don't you, Darbe dearest?**

**Anyways!**

**Thanks. Review. I love you.**

**Also, link to Rose's dress on my profile, because I'm nerdy like that! :)**

**xx**

**Ali**


	11. Unraveling

There's the sound of feet shuffling and murmurs jumping from person to person as everyone makes their way to the auction section. I glance up at Scorpius, but he's running his fingers through his hair and looking at the sea of people.

"Shall we follow, then?" I ask.

"I don't think so. Something's going to happen. We need to be prepared," he says, and his eyebrows furrow as he thinks.

I look around the ballroom, where only the band members are left, snagging food and laughing, and then I look to the auction. In front of the rows of white-cloth covered chairs is a small stage with navy blue curtains, where an elaborately carved podium sits. And, of course, behind that podium is a beaming Felix Yaxley, twirling his bloody wand between his fingers! My own fingers pull my wand out of my bun and squeeze tightly. I have the urge to hex him now, before anything happens, but Scorpius drags me away.

"We need to get behind the backdrop curtain," he whispers, as Felix begins to speak to the guests, his voice no longer engulfing but loud enough to be heard from the back of the room.

"Let's just take him down now," I hiss back, trying to jerk my arm away but Scorpius grasps it tighter.

"Rose, what about Albus? What if Yaxley's got him backstage with one of his idiots, and they Disapparate? Then this whole thing would be pointless."

I huff. "Fine then. Let's go," I reply, sneaking behind a large group of people and a column until I'm at the side of the stage. I glance back to make sure Scorpius is following, and when we make eye contact, he gives me a reassuring nod. I climb up the sidesteps that are partially hidden by the front curtain, hoping that Yaxley is distracted by the crowd. Darting behind the curtain, I make my way through the left wing of the backstage and behind the two black backdrop curtains. I peek out through the small gap between the two, and watch as Yaxley guides people over. There aren't enough chairs so a few people have to stand in back. I see my mum and dad sitting in a row towards the back, my mother looking excited for this special object and my father glancing around at all the people coming in, his arms crossed. He mutters something to my mum that makes her roll her eyes.

I miss them. I haven't seen them since we boarded the Hogwarts Express, but I got a letter a few days ago that I never wrote back to. Don't they know I'm missing? Don't they know their nephew is being held hostage?

I jump as a hand lands on my shoulder. My head whips around, but I see it's just Scorpius. "Prat," I whisper, but he just smirks and looks through the gap.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Yaxley says as the crowd settles down. "I'm sorry to say poor Mr. Collins is no longer fit to be our auctioneer tonight. He is currently being taken to St. Mungo's, and let us all hope he gets better soon."

I wonder how much of this is true. I mean, I bet the part about Mr. Collins being "no longer fit" is true. Who knows what terrible things Yaxley's done? I just have my doubts when it comes to promises of him being taken to St. Mungo's. The poor man! Just an innocent bystander, really!

"On a lighter note-" is it just me, or is there laughter in his voice? "-our next item up for bidding is truly one of a kind. And the money, of course, would go to a cause greater than you would expect. Bring out the specimen!" he calls, turning his head to the right wing.

One of his cronies pushes out Al, who's bound in ropes all around his body, his mouth gagged. Before the guy turns Al to face the audience, I can see he's got a black eye and his nose looks crooked. The audience gasps, and in that moment of initial shock, Yaxley performs some sort of nonverbal curse that causes the entire audience to freeze. They're surrounded by some sort of hazy purple glow and their bodies are completely still, except for their faces. An old witch in dowdy pink robes screams. A handful of people managed to whip out their wands in time, but not fast enough to use them, or even point them towards the stage.

People start shouting things, yelling, the noise filling up the room. Some call for the band to help them, but the magical divider makes it impossible for them to hear.

"Hush, hush, SHUT UP!" Yaxley screams at last. He takes a deep breath, trying to maintain his composure. "Let me tell you what is happening right now. You are all bidding for the freedom of one Albus Potter, son of, yes, the famous Harry Potter, who saved you from everything that would have made you great. Now, everybody shut up unless you're making a bid. We will start the bidding at a hundred thousand galleons. A hundred thousand-"

But he's interrupted by more and more screams and shouts of people calling him a monster and crying, "No, not the Potter boy!" and so on.

Yaxley shakes his head, points his long, crooked wand at Al, and shouts, "Crucio!"

Even with the gag, you can hear Al's screams. He thrashes about, inside of his cocoon of ropes. It must be so painful. The pain, the torture- and all while getting rope burn, no less. I cry out, but it's muffled by Scorpius' hand. I pull it off of me.

"Scorpius, we need to save him! Let _go of me!" I hiss, trying to pull my arms out of his hands._

"Rose, be logical. We have to wait for the right moment, otherwise Yaxley's going to kill him. Don't you understand?"

My breathing is rough. I'm so infuriated, it feels like heat is coming out of every surface of my body. I know my cheeks must be burning red right now.

"Scorpius, let go of me right now or I will literally gouge out your eyes with a big plastic spoon!"

"Well, that has got to be the weirdest threat I've ever received. Just how big is this big plastic spoon?"

"Scorpius!" I say, and then I thrust my combat boot back, hitting him right in the knee. He curses in pain, grabbing his knee and I use the opportunity to pull my wand out of my other boot. "Stupefy!" I cry, pointing my wand through the gap straight at Yaxley. He freezes and then falls, his wand still positioned for torture, and the sadistic smirk still on his lips. I rush out on the stage and I hear Scorpius' footsteps behind me. The crowd is no longer in the purple haze, and most people have jumped to their feet. I feel myself being tackled by two of Yaxley's beefiest companions but they're jinxed in no time by who knows who, and Scorpius lifts them off me before punching someone in the face. People are flooding the stage and the room is utter chaos. It looks like Yaxley has brought almost half of all his sick little followers.

In midst of all the chaos, I look for Scorpius, who has somehow gotten farther and farther away from me. He's dueling with some idiot, but I call his name, and he manages to dodge a blue jet of light just in time. Once he's by my side, I grab his hand.

"Where do we go?" I ask, grabbing onto Al's rope.

"Just go- anywhere," he commands, and I oblige. It's only as I'm turning that I hear someone calling my name.

"Rose! Rosie!"

I catch a glimpse of my mother. But by the time I register her, I'm already gone.

When we've stopped traveling, I look around and realize we're in Scorpius' bathroom.

"Interesting choice," Scorpius says, eyeing me. I shrug.

"Well, it _is _rather pretty," I reply quietly, kneeling down and ripping the gag off his face. As I start cutting the ropes off of him, from what I can tell, he's unconscious. But at least he's breathing. Scorpius opens the medicine cabinet and looks at some bottles of potion before pulling a small one out, along with a box of bandages.

I gasp as I pull off some of the rope. His exposed arm is red, and mostly rubbed raw, with scratches here and there. And a gash down his forearm that looks deep and infected.

"Scorpius, what do we do?" My voice is hollow. I think I might start to cry.

"Here, this'll help with the blistering," he says softly, pouring a careful amount of the light blue potion onto Al's arm. It makes a gross sizzling sound, and pus starts leaking from the gash. Scorpius grabs a hand towel from the sink counter and dabs it gently. The red parts are a little lighter, at least. "I use it when I get blisters from my broomstick, but there's not much."

"We need dittany, don't we?" I'm weary now, not just from the physical exhaustion of the day, or the work of cutting off the ropes, but from being out of school, and not in contact with any of my family.

"There might be some in the store cupboard, but I don't know if I can get it without my parents seeing me. And it might not be enough."

I nod. Scorpius pours some of the blister-soothing potion onto Al's shoulder, which is redder than his arm was. Al's body seizes up for a moment, his eyes flying open and a shriek escaping his lips. The pain must have woke him up.

"Al!" I stroke his dark hair and grin, even though he looks like he's in so much pain. At least he's here, instead of wherever Yaxley's crowd would have taken him. Or maybe they were going to kill him. In that case, at least he's alive! "Everything's going to be okay," I say automatically, because that's what you say when somebody is distressed. And he is certainly very distressed right now.

He tries to say something, but all that comes out is a croak. "Rose," he manages, his voice hoarse, "Where are we?" He winces in pain as Scorpius dabs up more pus from his arm.

"Scorpius' bathroom. Al, we need to take you to St. Mungo's-"

Al's eyes go wide. "No! Don't. They'll be waiting for us there."

"What, with all the security around that place? Al, you really need to get actual treatment," I explain, but Al won't take it.

"They'll be there and they'll-" he pauses, his eyes squeezing shut while Scorpius wraps his arm in a bandage, "They'll kill whoever they have to."

I start unraveling more rope. "Then we'll get aurors, we'll have the Ministry on our side for sure after-"

"No. Rose, we can't. They said- they said that if the Ministry found out about their plans, they would..." his voice trails off, his eyes watering in pain.

"They'd what?"

"They'd kill our whole family."

"Oh, please, Al, that's ridiculous! If they were protected by aurors, what could those dumb kids do?"

Al shakes his head as much as he can, which isn't much. "Rose, I watched them kill a little Muggle girl. They killed her entire family- _while she watched." _His tears flow freely now. "And then they tortured her, and- and-" Al shakes his head, and his voice drops to no more than a whisper. "Don't tell anyone, Rose, please."

My eyes meet Scorpius', looking for his reaction. He looks as unsure as I do.

"Alright, Al. We'll treat you as best we can, but if you get substantially worse we'll take you to St. Mungo's straight away. Alright?" I negotiate. I can't bear him in this state, but I couldn't bear him living in constant fear for his family, either, so I guess we'll just have to wait before we put him through both.

Scorpius and I continue to treat him, and eventually most of his ropes are off. "So do you know what their next move is?" I ask him, but then I realize he's asleep. Probably passed out from the pain and the exhaustion.

"You can ask when he wakes up," Scorpius offers, and we do our best to heal him well into the night.

Eventually I fall asleep on the cool tile floor.

**A/N YAYYYY UPDATING!**

**So, yes, I'm aware I haven't updated this in forever. But now I have! This chapter's been done for a little while now, but I wanted to get a head start on my next chapter so I won't get behind. Originally, I was gonna make sure that I was one chapter ahead of what I'd posted, so I'd already have the next chapter done, but clearly I can't follow my own rules. But chapter 12 is almost done, I swear! So hopefully that'll be up soon.**

**And thanks so much for reading! You should definitely review!**

**xx**

**Ali**


End file.
